Moments Of Clarity
by prettylittlepetticoats
Summary: Harry has been thrown into the Triwizard Tournament against his will and Hermione is the only person in his corner. He comes to realise how essential she is to his life, and begins to question why he hadn't seen it before - she's so much more than a friend, so much more. 4th year divergence, slow burn H/HR.
1. one

authorsnote: i've been debating about doing this story for a while, and I finally sat down yesterday and gave it a go - and I am super pleased! I love the hp books/films, and am a full believer that harry should have ended up with hermione, and so that is how this story is going to go. a few notes:

1) this will be canon up until 4th year.

2) harry/hermione WILL be endgame.

3) some ron bashing but nothing too bad.

4) no dumbledore bashing - I happen to adore the cooky headmaster.

I think thats all but will let you know if there will be anything else. this will diverge massively from canon - mainly in the form of the trios relationship, as well as some twists and turns concerning the main plot. also harry will be a little more cocky (not at first but as time goes on). this will be a slow burn relationship, don't expect them to fall in love in the first chapter.

okay, so I do hope you enjoy - any questions review away. also please don't bash my spelling/grammar, i've never been amazing shakes at it and sometimes stuff can fall through the cracks.

song recommendations: in my life/a heart full of love - les miserables (i particularly enjoy the movie version).

* * *

a heart full of love,

a heart full of song,

no fear no regret,

i am lost,

i am found.

...

When Harry woke up on Sunday morning, it took him a moment to remember why he felt so miserable and worried, his stomach churning for no apparent reason. Then the memory of the previous night rolled over him. He felt like a stone had dropped in his stomach; the Goblet of Fire spitting out his name in a dance of red..the whispers around the hall, Ron's nasty forced smile and cutting words, Hermione's worried glances and her hand on his shoulder as she had pushed him forward, whispering that it would be alright..

But _would_ it?

There was a reason the age restriction had been added this year.. a reason that the judges felt as though no one underage could handle what would come. He was a 4th year, and only really excelled in DADA..he was sure if he applied himself a bit more he could move up the ranks in class, but for now that didn't matter; he wasn't ready to face the tasks that would be coming.

It was as simple as that, he was not ready.

Desperately trying to push the negative thoughts out of his mind, he dressed and went down the spiral staircase into the common room, he could hardly hide in his room forever (though the prospect was appealing). The moment he appeared, the people who had already finished breakfast broke into a fresh round of applause again. He managed a weak smile, that he knew wasn't even slightly convincing and resolutely made his way to the portrait hole. Going into the Great Hall and facing the prospect of all of the Gryffindors treating him like some sort of hero was not welcome but it was that or allow the Creevey brothers (who were frantically beckoning) to corner him. With grim determination he pushed open the portrait hole and climbed out, only to find himself face to face with Hermione.

"Hello" She said, holding up a stack of toast, which she was carrying on a napkin, and she had a bottle of pumpkin juice in each robe pocket "I brought you this.. want to go for a walk?"

"Good idea" Harry said gratefully, a real smile gracing his features for what felt like the first time in hours. "Thanks Hermione"

She smiled at him again and handed over some toast as they went downstairs, crossing the Entrance Hall quickly, without looking at the Great Hall. It was a cold morning and they kept moving, munching their toast, as Harry told Hermione what had happened after he had been called on by the Goblet of Fire the night before.

To his immense relief Hermione accepted his story without question. Without even thinking about it when she told him that she believed him, he bundled her into a hug. It was beyond comforting to have someone believe him, someone on his side. Hermione's cheeks flared pink as he grabbed her and she returned the hug squeezing him tightly, before letting go and continuing.

"Well, of course, I knew you hadn't entered yourself, no question" Hermione confirmed again and Harry felt a rush of warm go through him; this was how Ron was meant to have reacted. Hermione and Ron were Harry's two best friends; how could one accept the truth and the other deny it? He just didn't understand why Ron was so furious at him and yet Hermione was here stood with him, comforting him.

"The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name! But the question is, who did put it in?" She looked nervous as she spoke, biting down on her lip as they stopped in front of the Black Lake. "Because Professor Moody is right Harry.. I don't think any student could have done it.. they'd never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over Dumbledores age line" Again she chewed on her lip, "I looked it up last night, the amount of power you'd need to confuse something like the Goblet? Way beyond anything even a 7th year could do, some adult witches and wizards wouldn't stand a chance"

Harry smiled at her again as Hermione conjured up a blanket for them to sit on. They spread it out under a tree near the Black Lake and sat down, the wool protecting them from the frosty ground. For a moment they sat in silence before Harry spoke; he needed to know.

"Have you seen Ron?" He asked in a quiet sort of voice, knowing he couldn't ignore the topic forever. His eyes flicked up to Hermione's face, her expression suddenly turning into a mixture of nervous and defiant.

"Yes, he was at breakfast, though I didn't speak to him much: She crossed her arms then, and shuffled a little closer to Harry. Her expression had turned to one of annoyance; evidently she didn't want to speak about this either.

"Does he still think I entered myself?" He couldn't help but sound annoyed; why would Ron think such a thing? He wanted no part of this, none. And even though he asked the question he felt he already knew the answer.

"Well...no, I don't think so.. not really" Hermione said awkwardly, her gaze shifting for a moment.

"What do you mean, not really? He does or he doesn't"

"Oh Harry isn't it obvious?" Hermione said her nerves going away, her tone despairing. Her gaze finally meeting his, her expression one of annoyance and exasperation.

"Jealous?' Harry said incredulously, "Jealous of what?" Harry shook his head; part of him had considered Ron might be lashing out because he hadn't been picked but had dismissed it, Ron didn't actually think he would have stood a chance did he? Harry who was consistently above Ron in class (when he put the effort in at least), knew he didn't have a hope! How could Ron think this was something he wanted? "He wants to make a prat of himself on front of the whole school does he?"

"Look" Hermione spoke patiently, "It's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. I know its not your fault" She said quickly as Harry opened his mouth furiously, cutting in again so he couldn't speak "I know you don't ask for it.. but – well – you know, Ron's got all those brothers to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous – he's always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he deals with it, never mentions it but I think this time it was too much" Hermione looked sad when she finished before speaking again "However I will say he's being ridiculous, its a pride thing and he should be here for you right now, hence why I refused to speak to him at breakfast, he shouldn't be sulking because he's not getting attention, he should be supporting you"

"Great" Harry said bitterly, his hands shaking with rage "Really great. How can he think I want this? Like I enjoy people gawping at my forehead wherever I go, like being famous because the most evil man of all time murdered my parents but couldn't finish me off" He shook his head then and risked a look at Hermione: she looked sad, and she was the only person he'd accept pity from right now. She was the only person in his corner.

"You should talk to him, make him see reason. I was going to this morning until he asked me who I believed" Hermione rolled her eyes then "And so I just left, but Harry you should talk to him about it, he's being stupid yes but he's still your friend"

"I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up" He spoke a fraction too loudly and a few owls in the trees above took flight in alarm, and so he lowered his voice. "Maybe, he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself once I've got my neck broken"

"That's not funny" Hermione spoke quietly, her eyes full of fear. "That's not funny at all" She looked extremely anxious, her hands twisting together. "Harry, I've been thinking – you know what you've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back to the castle?"

"Yes, give Ron a good hex to the.."

"Write to Sirius, you've got to tell him what happened! He asked you to keep him posted on everything thats going on here.. its almost like he expected something like this to happen. I've got a quill and some parchment on me.."

"Come off it" Harry spoke, looking around to make sure they couldn't be overheard. Luckily the grounds were deserted. "He came back to the country because my scar twinged. He'll probably burst into the castle with Lupin in tow if I tell him someone's entered me into the Triwizard Tournament"

"He'd want you to tell him" Hermione said sternly, laying out the quill and parchment in front of him. "He's going to find out anyway"

"How?" He said glancing down at the writing tools but not making a move to take them.

"Harry this isn't going to be kept quiet" Hermione sounded almost apologetic when she spoke "This Tournament is famous, you're famous. I'll be surprised if there isn't something in the Daily Prophet already..you're in half the books about You-Know-Who, you know, Sirius would rather hear it from you, you know he would"

"OK, OK, I'll write to him" Harry stood up with a nod, offering Hermione his hand. She took it and came to stand next to him. He tossed his last piece of toast into the lake, they both watched, side by side as a large tentacle rose out of the water and scooped it beneath the surface.

For a moment they just stood still, shoulder to shoulder. Harry could feel himself shaking and he wasn't sure if it was due to the cold or nerves. Still he stood next to Hermione, and as she wrapped a hand around his arm and placed her head on his shoulder, he felt calmed. They stayed like that for a while, arm in arm, close to one another, not speaking but not needing too.

Harry felt in that moment incredibly glad; glad that if one person had decided to believe him it was Hermione.

* * *

The next few days were some of the very worst Harry had ever had at Hogwarts. It was nearly as bad as when people had thought he was Slytherins heir. At least this time people weren't actively hiding from him in the corridors. Still, walking through the castle, hearing people whisper and mutter was not pleasant.

He could understand the Hufflepuffs attitudes, even if he didn't like it; they had their own champion to support. He expected nothing less than vicious insults from the Slytherins – he was highly unpopular there and always had been. But he had hoped the Ravenclaws might have found it in their hearts to support him as well as Cedric. He was wrong however, most Ravenclaws seemed to think that he had been so desperate to earn himself a bit more fame by tricking the Goblet into accepting his name. Why everyone thought he was fame hungry he didn't know, he was in the spotlight enough without wanting to be already.

He still wasn't talking to Ron, and hadn't tried too. Hermione had asked him a few times to attempt to talk to him but had dropped it when it had become clear how much Ron and his' friendship had fractured. He didn't know if it could ever be the same. The only thing keeping him from leaving Hogwarts forever were the Gryffindors who were still treating him like a hero and sticking up for him at all ends, and Hermione who had taken Ron's place completely. She walked around the castle with him, urging him to ignore people, and keeping him calm.

It was odd; Ron had always been his best friend, perhaps because he was a guy, maybe because they had the same kind of interests and attitudes. He had always considered Hermione a best friend but not in the same ways as Ron. Oh, how that had changed.

They spent nearly all of their time together. He sat next to her in lessons (and had found his work drastically improved by doing so), had managed to switch out of Divination for Ancient Runes (he had planned to beg McGongall to do so but she had agreed in a moment, commending him on giving up a 'wooly subject' for something proper) – it was a lot harder but Hermione was helping him catch up, and the teacher was happy with his progress. They spent hours in the library together, doing homework, working on papers and just being in each others presence.

There was a lot less relaxation and messing around but oddly Harry didn't mind. He felt that all of this time pushing himself on the school work front was keeping him distracted, was stopping him from worrying about the first task. And there was no denying how much his grades had improved, even Snape had been reluctantly upping his grades, a sneer on his mouth as he did so, (though the first week of improved grades had been difficult, he had taken 40 points each from him and Hermione, convinced Hermione had written the paper for him, and had stepped up the level of torture significantly). It was weird, but a great feeling to be praised by the teachers and told how pleased they were with him.

He had finally come to understand why Hermione worked so hard; instead of spending vacant hours doing nothing, he was actually getting a lot better, he had jumped grades in every single class. And the look on Hermione's face when he came second to her in every class, made him feel warm inside, she was proud of him, and he felt proud of himself.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he walked along with Hermione to Double Potions. It was a painful experience nowadays. Even though his grades were getting a lot better, the nastiness from the Slytherins and Snape was horrendous. They seemed determined to punish Harry as much as possible for daring to become school champion. He had struggled through the last session, with Hermione sat next to him muttering 'Ignore them, ignore them, ignore them' under her breath, he couldn't imagine today would be any better.

When they arrived outside of Snape's dungeon after lunch, they found the Slytherins waiting outside, each and every one of them wearing a large badge on the front of his or her robes. For one wild moment Harry thought they were S.P.E.W badges (he had his pinned to his bag at Hermione's insistence, she had hers proudly pinned on her robes)– then he saw they all bore the same message, in luminous red letters than burnt brightly in the dimly lit underground passage:

Support CEDRIC DIGGORY – the REAL Hogwarts Champion!

"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy said loudly, as Harry approached. "And this isn't all they do – look!"

He pressed his badge onto his chest, and the message upon it vanished, to be replaced by another one, which glowed green:

POTTER STINKS.

The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges too, until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly all around Harry. He felt the heat rise in his face and neck, and Hermione's hand reach out to clutch his. It was horrible; why were the Slytherins so downright evil? So intent on making people feel unhappy. His cheeks were red, and he felt his hands shaking. Goddamn his temper, he could not let it take over.

"Oh very funny" Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls, who were laughing harder than anyone "Really witty" She rolled her eyes then, "Who did the charm for you? I can't imagine any of you have the knowledge even close to sorting these out, especially not Parkinson" She paused for a moment and smiled "I imagine you, Malfoy were unable to charm these either. Since you used to come second to me in every class.. well now third since Harry has one upped you, again"

The laughter stopped suddenly, the entire dungeon going quiet. Harry felt a deep sense of pride at Hermione's words. Next to him Hermione was the person they bullied the most, and though Harry stuck up for her as much as he could it was nice to see her stand up for herself. He squeezed her hand in thanks and she smiled at him. He noticed Ron out of the corner of his eye; he hadn't laughed at the badges but hadn't stuck up for Harry either.

"How dare you, you filthy little mudblood" Draco sneered at her and he saw Hermione drop his hand and go pink; as she much as she tried to pretend otherwise, that word still affected her greatly.

Some of the anger Harry had been feeling for days and days seemed to burst through a dam in his chest. He had reached for his wand and pushed Hermione to the side before he'd thought of what he was doing. People all around them scrambled out of the way, backing down the corridor. For a moment his eyes flickered to Hermione, who's own eyes were shining with tears. Ron had come to stand behind her, and his look of anger was close to Harry's.

"Harry!" Hermione said warningly, he would have stopped but he heard the thickness of tears in her tone, and so kept his eyes on Malfoy.

"Go on then Potter" Malfoy said quietly, drawing out his own wand "Moody's not here to look after you now – do it, if you've got the guts"

A cold smirk appeared on Harry's features, and his sneer rivalled Malfoy's at that point, it was rare for Harry to look so nasty, he was such a good person at heart the Slytherin like smirk appeared completely unnatural on him, but he kept it up all the same.

For a split second they both looked into each other's eyes, then, at exactly the same time, both acted.

"Furnunculus!" Harry yelled.

"Densaugeo!" Malfoy shouted.

Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other mid-air, and ricocheted off at angles – Harry's hit Goyle in the face, and Malfoy's hit Hermione. Goyle bellowed and put his hands to his nose, where great ugly boils were springing up – Hermione whimpering in panic was clutching her mouth.

'Hermione' Ron hurried from behind her to see what was wrong with her, just as Harry turned around to stand in front of her. For a moment the trio was back together, and Ron looked at Harry properly for the first time in days but Harry couldn't pay attention to that now, Hermione was more important.

Ron dragged Hermione's hands away from her face. It wasn't a pretty sight. Hermione's front teeth – already larger than average – were now growing at an alarming rate; she was looking more and more like a beaver as her teeth elongated, past her bottom lip, towards her chin – panic-stricken, she felt them and let out a terrified cry.

'And what is all this noise about?' spoke a soft, deadly voice. Snape had arrived.

The Slytherins clamored to give their explanations. Snape pointed a finger at Malfoy "Explain"

"Potter attacked me, sir -"

"We attacked each other at the same time" Harry shouted, his eyes not leaving Hermione's, she was looking at him, fear evident in her eyes.

"- and he hit Goyle – look -"

Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi.

"Hospital wing, Goyle" Snape said calmly.

"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"

Ron forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth, and Harry stepped out of the way; he had been shielding her from the Slytherins but knew he had to show the Potions Master what had happened. Hermione was still doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled over with silent laughter, pointing at Hermione behind Snapes back.

Snape looked coldly at Hermione, flickered his eyes to Harry and then settled them back on her "I see no difference"

Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.

It was lucky perhaps that both Harry and Ron started shouting at Snape at the same time; lucky their voices echoed so much in the stone corridor, for in the confused din, it was impossible for him to hear exactly what they were calling him. He got the gist however as Harry's cry of 'Wanker' echoed across the walls.

"Let's see" He said in his silkiest voice "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for Potter and Weasley. Now get inside or it'll be a weeks worth of detentions" He sounded deadly but Harry didn't back down. Instead he stepped back, scooped up Hermione's bag from the floor and shook his head.

"Fuck you" Was all he said as he turned and made his way down the corridor, ignoring Snape's yells from behind him. Once he was out of sight he broke into a run, making his way for the hospital wing. For a moment he turned back and was disappointed that Ron hadn't followed him. Their friendship may have been shattered over the past days, and Hermione had completely taken Ron's place.. but it would have been nice to have the trio back together once more.

Still, as he made his way to the hospital wing, Harry accepted something; the trio could never be back together, not truly. He and Hermione were too close now, Ron had phased himself out.

There was no changing that now.

* * *

so thoughts? again this story won't bash ron too much but he will be feeling some pain, more so at the start of the story.

please let me know what you thought in reviews, its always nice to get feedback, positive or constructed criticism.

also please follow/fav.

i'm not following any kind of upload schedule as i'm far too flighty to do so, but I will be uploading consistently.

EDITED: 21/01/2018 - grammar/phrasing/syntax slightly changed, and small parts added.


	2. two

authorsnote: so after an amazing response to the first chapter, here is the second one! thank you to all who reviewed, favourited and followed! a huge thank you! so here is the next chapter. I am lending paragraphs from the books, so some of this is filler, but stick with it, its necessary for the story, and I always work in little moments that aren't in the books. I do hope you enjoy, let me know in the reviews!

also this will mainly be a story in harry's pov, following the books, but I will include others - next chapter will be the first one with hermione's pov. but yeah, it will mainly be harry's.

song recommendations: sparks fly - taylor swift.

* * *

the way you move is like a full on rainstorm,

and i'm a house of cards.

you're the kind of reckless that should send me running,

but i know that i won't get far

...

Harry remained in the hospital wing with Hermione for about an hour, though she insisted he didn't need to miss lessons. He shook her off and sat next to her, both of them working through the Ancient Runes homework (which Harry surprisingly got on okay with, it was certainly difficult, but Hermione was helping massively in catching him up).

When they had closed the chapter, an hour after arriving Madam Pomfrey bustled over, happy that the spell had stopped and it was now time to revert the effects. She had seen to Goyle first, who had looked awful; Harry had been secretly happy with his spellwork when Goyle had walked past looking like something out of Professor Sprouts greenhouse.

Just as Madam Pomfrey held up her wand, the door of the hospital wing swung open, to reveal a very out of breathe Colin Creevey. He was holding onto the door, and he quickly walked in. Harry raised his eyebrow for a moment as Colin walked straight up to him directly, rather than Madam Pomfrey.

"Harry I've been looking for you everywhere" Colin shook his head but still smiled, his enthusiasm for Harry never dwindling. "Mr Bagman wants to see you, something to do with the tournament, you're supposed to come with me, right away!"

Harrys heart sunk at Colins word and his stomach felt cold. For just a few moments he had completely forgotten about the tournament due to his worry about Hermione, but here it was again, back full force. He felt a comforting pat on his hand, and glanced over to Hermione, who with teeth past her collar at this point was still an extremely welcome site. He nodded, at her and made his way to his feet. He dropped her bag on the bed, and waved her goodbye as he left with Colin.

"It's amazing isn't it Harry?" said Colin, starting to speak the moment Harry had closed the hospital wing door. "Isn't it, though? You being a champion? It really is amazing!"

"Yeah, really amazing" Harry said heavily, as they set off towards the steps into the Entrance Hall. "Did you know what they wanted to do today Colin?"

"Photo's I think, for the Daily Prophet!"

"Great" said Harry, dully. "Exactly what I need. More publicity"

Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes as he said goodbye to Colin and walked into the classroom. He didn't want any photos taken of him, didn't want any more publicity. He considered maybe point blank refusing, but wasn't sure how to do tactfully.

He was in a fairly small classroom; most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle; three of them, however, had been placed, end to end, in front of the blackboard, and covered with a long length of velvet. Five chairs had been set behind the velvet covered desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, talking to a witch Harry had never seen before, who was wearing magenta robes.

Viktor Krum was standing moodily in the corner as usual, and not talking to anybody. Cedric and Fleur were in conversation. Fleur looked a great deal happier than Harry had seen her so far; she kept throwing back her head so that her long silvery hair caught the light. A paunchy man, holding a large black camera which was smoking slightly, was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye, evidently enraptured.

Bagman suddenly spotted Harry, got up quickly and bounded forwards. "Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, Harry, in you come.. nothing to worry about, it's just the Wand Weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -"

"Wand Weighing?" Harry repeated nervously, he hadn't prepared for this!

"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead" said Bagman "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore, but he should be down any second, took us a while to find you!" Bagman let out a small chuckle and then looked over his shoulder.

"Theres also going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter" He added, gesturing towards the witch in the magenta robes "She's doing a small piece on the Tournament for the Daily Prophet..."

"Maybe not that small, Ludo" said Rita Skeeter, suddenly standing beside them, her eyebrow raised, eyeing Harry with interest, an interest he didn't enjoy, he didn't want any publicity.

"I wonder.." She began her sentence but then turned to see the door opening. She frowned slightly before moving back to the velvet covered tables, sitting off to the side with the photographer. Clearly annoyed her thought had been interrupted, she was frowning now, though rummaging around her bag. In the doorway stood Dumbledore and Olivander. They both gestured toward the champions who immediately sat in the chairs in the middle of the room. Harry followed quickly, taking out his wand nervously.

Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr Crouch and Ludo Bagman all sat on the chairs behind the velvet covered tables, Dumbledore quickly joined them and Ollivander to moved to stand by the window. Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Rita Skeeter remove a lime green quill from her bag, and set it on her parchment. She caught his eye, and he quickly dropped his gaze; he didn't want to attract the attention of any journalists.

Harry moved his gaze to Ollivander, and exchanged a smile with the man. Mr Ollivander had sold him his wand three years earlier, at least he knew some of the people in the room.

"May I introduce Mr Ollivander? Though our Hogwarts Champions will already know him" said Dumbledore, smiling, standing up to talk to the champions and gesturing over to Mr Ollivander. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the Tournament, all standard procedure"

"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you forward first, please?" said Mr Ollivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room.

Fleur was dealt with quickly, and her wand was declared fine. Harry was startled to hear her say that she was part Veela. He made a mental note to tell Hermione; she would find it funny, she had been displeased with Fleur's attitude towards Hogwarts since she had arrived. Harry didn't feel drawn to her as he had the Veelas at the world cup; but then he remembered what they had transformed into, 'never go for looks alone' as Mr Weasley had said ... though he tried not to think about any of the Weasleys, they reminded him of Ron, and he didn't want his temper sparking up here.

Krum was dealt with next, he was moody as he moved forward, and grunted his replies. It was odd to Harry, he would have guessed Krum would have been some flashy, fame hungry guy. Yet he seemed like a teenage boy talented at Quidditch, who like Harry disliked the fame, in that he had a kinship with him it seemed.

Cedric stepped up next, and Ollivander's attitude was noticeably better towards one of his own wands. Cedric spoke about polishing his wand and Harry looked down at his own wands. He could see finger marks all over it. He gathered a fistful of robe from his knee and tried to rub it clean surreptitiously. Several gold sparks shot out of the end of it. Fleur Delacour gave him a very patronising look, and he desisted.

"Good" Ollivander spoke towards Cedric before dismissing him and turning towards Harry "Which leaves..Mr Potter"

Harry stood up and handed over his wand, before fisting his hands back into his robes. He really didn't want to attract any attention from Rita Skeeter. Her quill had been lightly jotting throughout, but as soon as he stepped up it started scribbling frantically. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead focused on Mr Ollivander, trying to tune out the sound of scribbling.

"Aaah, yes" said Mr Ollivander, his pale eyes suddenly gleaming "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember"

Harry could remember, too. He could remember it as though it had happened yesterday..

Four summers ago on his 11th birthday, he had entered Mr Ollivander's shop with Hagrid to buy a wand. Mr Ollivander had taken his measurements and then started handing him wands to try. Harry had waved what felt like every wand in the shop, until at last he had found one that suited him – this one, which was made of holly, 11 inches long, and contained a single feather from the tail of a phoenix. Mr Ollivander had been surprised when harry had been so compatible with this wand. 'Curious' he had said .. 'curious', and not until Harry had asked what was curious had Mr Ollivander explained that the phoenix feather in Harry's wand had come from the same bird which had supplied the core of Lord Voldemort's.

Harry had never shared this piece of information with anybody; wands were a personal thing, it struck him that he didn't even know the make up of Hermione's wand, he wondered then if she would tell him. He was very fond of his wand, and as far as he was concerned its relation to Voldemort's wand was something that couldn't be helped – rather as he couldn't help being related to Aunt Petunia. However, he really hoped Mr Ollivander wasn't about to tell the room about it. He had a funny feeling Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill might just explode with excitement if he did (it was still scribbling furiously).

Mr Ollivander spent much longer examining Harry's wand than anyone else's. Eventually, however, he made a fountain of wine shoot out of it, and handed it back to Harry, announcing that it was still in perfect condition.

"Thank you all" said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges table. "You may go back to your lessons now – or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end -"

Feeling elated that he wouldn't be subjected to more press, Harry quickly got up to leave, and was at the door before the camera man jumped up and cleared his throat.

"Photos, Dumbledore, photos!" cried Bagman excitedly. "All the judges and champions. What do you think, Rita?"

"Er – yes, let's do those first" said Rita Skeeter, whose eyes were upon Harry again, thankfully her Quill was tucked away in her crocodile skin handbag. "And then perhaps some individual shots"

The photographs took a long time. Madame Maxine cast everyone else into shadow, and the photographer eventually had her sit down. Karkaroff kept twirling his goatee, Krum who Harry thought would be used to this sort of thing, skulked half-hidden at the back of the group. The photographer seemed keenest to get Fleur at the front, but Rita kept hurrying forward and dragging Harry into greater prominence (though thankfully Dumbledore was stood next to him and kept 'accidentally' moving in front of him - for that Harry was thankful to his Professor).

Then came time for the individual shots. Fleur went first and spent a lot of time smiling at the camera, the photographers eyes gleamed over more and more as he took photos of her. Then Cedric who smiled easily, then Krum who looked annoyed and grouchy. Then Harry was dragged forward, he tried not to look too nervous, and instead did his usual smile; though it didn't quite touch his eyes. He then excused himself after two shots and made a beeline for the door, even as they asked for more he decided pretending not to hear them was his best out, and simply hurried away.

He quickly hurried outside to find Dumbledore stood in the corridor, conversing with Snape. Harry fearing the worst turned to hurry in the other direction, before he heard a large cough. With worry he turned around to see Dumbledore stood there, an easy smile in place, Snape heading in the other direction, though not before throwing a death glare at Harry.

"Harry" Dumbledore smiled "I know all this press is a nightmare, but if I were you I would just not read the paper; does something exist if you have no knowledge of it? Why of course, but it is made less important" Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder, and Harry smiled; it was true in a sense, though he knew if Rita got creative with her article it would spread like wildfire around the school.

"Professor Snape has informed me of what happened, and I don't think the circumstances warrant a punishment" Dumbledore nodded. "Mr Weasley has been excused too, it was a simple teenage fight gotten out of hand. Professor Snape agreed to drop the detentions and restore the points, when I enquired about what punishment Mr Malfoy would be receiving" Dumbledore laughed then and Harry felt the tension leave his shoulders.

"Thanks Professor" He smiled then, and said his goodbye, before turning to head to dinner. He had one foot hovering over the step before he realized that Hermione would probably still be in the hospital wing; Madam Pomfrey had wanted her to stay ovenight 'just in case', and so with a rumbling stomach regardless Harry made his way for the stairs, intending to stay until Hermione was excused. When he had accompanied her earlier, she had confided that since she had been petrified hospitals were not her favorite place, and so if he could make it easier Harry would stay.

He hurried back up the corridor, and across to the hospital wing, as he pushed past the doors, his eyes immediately found Hermione, who was reading propped up in her bed, her teeth certainly back to normal. She smiled at him as he approached with a low cough, and conjured a chair for him to sit in.

"Harry! How did your meeting go?" She immediately placed down her transfiguration book, and smiled at him; her teeth certainly were smaller, in fact he suspected they were smaller than they had been before; however he didn't question her and instead launched into what had happened. She laughed with him and sympathized by Rita's attempted ambush, and reacted with a knowing nod, when he told her about Fleur.

"Well of course I suspected it" Hermione nodded again as Madam Pomfrey came over with a tray of food for her. "She's far too pretty otherwise, and no one is that arrogant without cause" Hermione laughed again, and Harry laughed with her. He smiled even more when Madam Pomfrey wordlessly placed a dinner tray in front of him, and set it down with a wink. For a few moments he and Hermione were focused on eating their food before she spoke first.

"So the first task, how do you feel?" She paused for a moment, and Harry focused on swallowing his chicken pie, rather than answering; he didn't even want to discuss it; it made it too real.. and yet if he was going to share his feelings with anyone, it would be Hermione.

"Absolutely terrified" He spoke quietly before going back to eating, and Hermione's look softened. He smiled at her in an attempted reassurance, though he felt it was probably diminished by his slightly shaking hands. "I don't know if I can do it"

To that Hermione's expression changed and she rolled her eyes before speaking. "Harry, come on" She sighed in exasperation as his expression of worry before continuing. "You're very intelligent, you've always beat me at Defence, and you're great in all the other subjects, you just don't try" She raised an eyebrow then and he sheepishly nodded. "I mean look for the past week your work has shot through the roof because you've been putting in some effort, you've caught up on 2 months of Ancient Runes in the space of a week, thats impressive"

Harry felt warm at her words and nodded, the both of them finishing their food in relative silence. He smiled to himself; it was nice to have Hermione's support, and especially her compliments (though he wouldn't admit he was reading his Ruins book every chance he got, including two hours whilst he was supposed to be sleeping, both because he was struggling with sleep due to nerves, and because he wanted to impress her).

"It's just the uncertainty" He broke the silence as they both set down their trays (which were immediately summoned away by Madam Pomfrey). "Lets talk about something else" He nodded then and Hermione did too, clearly giving him a break from the nerves.

"Can I ask you something?" Harry spoke quietly, though he wasn't worried about being overheard, the hospital wing was empty except for Madam Pomfrey who was sat in her office, still his tone was hushed.

Hermione nodded immediately, "Of course" Giving him an encouraging nod to continue.

"What is the makeup of your wand?" He asked casually, worried she wouldn't want to share something so personal, and yet she smiled, picking up her wand (which was free of finger marks), and twirling it through her fingers, as Mr Ollivander had done with Fleur's.

"Vine wood and dragon heartstring" She nodded them, making little bubbles appear in the air. "Dragon heartstring is a powerful core, loyal to the owner, and tends to learn quicker than the other types" She giggled quietly at that and Harry smiled at her. "Apparently the best at producing flamboyant spells" Hermione cocked an eyebrow then and flicked her wand, making firecracker red sparks trail through the air. "Vine wood because it is for witches who have a great purpose, and hidden depths in their personality" To that Hermione conjured mist across the room, before making it disappear with a flick. "Why?"

Harry shrugged then, and picked up his own wand, holding it in his hand; Hermione's wand sounded perfect for her. "The Wand Weighing ceremony, just got me thinking. Mines phoenix and holly.."

"Phoenix, for the greatest and rarest magic, showing the most initiative" Hermione smiled at that, her eyes on Harry. "Their allegiance is hard won, and they are hard to personalise". "Holly is a rare wand wood, and is usually for wizards who have dangerous and spiritual quests in their future" Hermione's smile dropped a little at that, before she spoke again "Holly and phoenix are the hardest substances to meld together, but in the rare occasion a wizard matches to it, he will be unstoppable"

"Sounds about right" Hermione smiled again, and Harry felt that deep warmth again; it was a rare feeling, a feeling of complete and utter happiness, the kind of feeling that he could easily conjure a patroness from. And so he did, lifting his wand and making his stag come forth, it leaped around the room before stopping in front of the bed. Hermione smiled in delight and waved her own wand, and so her otter sprang forth (she had confided in Harry a few days before she had been practicing it practically everyday since he had learnt his, and had been waiting until it was perfect to show it to him). Rolling across the room, it came to stop next to the stag. For a moment the two animals looked at one another, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Beautiful" Harry spoke, his gaze returning to Hermione before he dropped his gaze. She smiled at him again, before clearing her throat. For a moment the atmosphere became a little awkward, before Hermione spoke again.

"Why did you ask about my wand?" She looked at him with understanding, ready for his answer.

"My wand.." For a moment Harry didn't speak, and neither did Hermione, clearly giving him the time to decide what he would say. He felt nervous; this was such a personal thing, something he'd never revealed to anyone, and yet he felt compelled to tell Hermione, and so he did.

"The core, the phoenix feather" Harrys hands were shaking now, and in response the same sparks shot from his wand as they had earlier. He gently placed it on the bed before he spoke again. "It gave one feather to my wand, and only one to another, only two feathers to two wands, never anymore" He downcast his head. "The only other person in the world who shares the same birds feather as my wand, is Voldemort" He looked back up at Hermione, who's eyes were full of shock. She didn't move though, and nodded for him to continue. "They are twin cores, brothers if you will" He shrugged then, again it had never bothered him before, and yet now he felt nervous; would Hermione think something about him because of it?

Hermione seemed to come back to her senses; he didn't blame her for her shock, he had been almost bowled over when he had first found out, and he had barely known who Voldemort was at that point. "It makes sense" She nodded "But in different ways"

"Phoenix and holly, two of the hardest materials to fuse, and when they do, the wizard or witch who matches with it will be unstoppable" Hermione nodded again, sliding off the bed to stand before Harry. He stood too, and she took his hands in hers, her eyes never leaving his. "Voldemort was near unstoppable, during his reign, right?" He nodded at her question (noting she spoke his name for the first time, without flinching ...oddly it gave him the courage to continue looking into her eyes) and she continued. "And I have no doubt, that whatever you put your mind too, you'll be unstoppable too" She nodded again, clearly firm in that belief. "Which is why this first task is going to be fine. More than fine" She smiled again then, gripping his hands tightly, her eyes still focused on his - brown to green "Unstoppable"

* * *

so thoughts? please let me know in the reviews!

also please follow/fav, and I will be back soon!

EDITED: 21/01/2018 - grammar/syntax/phrasing changed, small portions added.


	3. three

authorsnote: so, heres chapter 3! this was the hardest to write by far as I finally included another point of view! I will stress this story still will be mainly harry's point of view as I like to follow that books that way, but hermione will be cropping up a fair bit as well. I do hope you enjoyed this, I have been following goblet of fire as much as I can, but I borrowed from another book here for hermione's pov, and I hope you liked it? please let me know if you like the kind of crossover I'm doing, as I think it works, but I'd love to know what you think!

anyways I do hope you enjoyed, and please tell me what you think!

song recommendations: chasing cars - snow patrol.

* * *

if I lay here,

if I just lay here,

would you lie with me,

and just forget the world

...

That morning they were both shaken awake by the sudden piercing light, and Madam Pomfrey forcing back the curtains. She gave them both a smile, before giving them ten minutes before breakfast. She declared Hermione would be fit to go after she had eaten.

Harry awoke with a crick in his neck, and his body half collapsed over the chair. He remembered after the intimate conversation he and Hermione had, they had stayed up for hours, reading and talking. It had been great, sat together with no one else around; no one sneering at Harry or laughing at Hermione, just the two of them. Madam Pomfrey had bustled in to give Harry a blanket, but hadn't told him to leave, thankfully. Soon after they had fallen asleep, Hermione tucked up in bed, with Harry promising he wouldn't leave. Unfortunately that meant he had fallen asleep on the chair, and it was rather uncomfortable.

Still, he sat up and stretched and didn't feel all that bad, and he didn't mind, the conversation the night before had made him feel less nervous about the first task, less intimidated about what was to come. Hermione believed in him, and that meant a damn lot.

They both gulped down their breakfast, and left the hospital wing. Hermione smiled at him as they made there way to Gryffindor common room, and again Harry noticed a difference in her teeth, still he didn't ask, he suspected she had Madam Pomfrey shrink them further than what would have made them normal, but he didn't question her, rather they walked along in silence and ducked through the portrait hole.

They were both met by Ron, who was clearly making his way out. As he caught them together he looked annoyed but didn't comment. Rather he spoke to Harry without looking at him, his eyes determindly on his feet.

"You've had an owl" Ron said brusquely, his eyes glancing up to look at Hermione who glared back; she clearly thought this whole thing was ridicolous, as did Harry, but he had made his stance clear; he would talk to Ron again when he apologised, and only then.

"Right" said Harry.

He then walked straight out of the room, not looking at Harry. For a moment, Harry considered going after him - he wasn't sure whether he wanted to talk to him or hit him, both seemed quite appealing - but the lure of Sirius's answer was too strong. Harry strode over to the barn owl, took the letter off its leg, and unrolled it.

It was difficult, and he knew Hermione felt torn as well. Ron had been part of the group, part of the trio and he had been so important. Harry knew things couldn't go back, not with how close he and Hermione had grown, but he didn't want to never be friends with Ron again; the very thought made him a mixture of angry and sad.

Harry shook off his thoughts and ran to the owl, he untied the letter and it quickly flew off. Harry unrolled the scroll of parchment and opened it up, Hermione leaning over his shoulder to read it too..

 _Harry - I can't say everything I would like to in a letter, it's too risky in case the owl is intercepted - we need to talk face-to-face._

 _Can you ensure that you are alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November?_

 _I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself and while you're around Dumbledore and Moody I don't think anyone will be able to hurt you. However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very risky, especially right under Dumbledore's nose._

 _Be on the watch, Harry. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd of November as quickly as you can._

 _Know I'm here if you need me, and I care for you a great deal. If you are in real trouble and can't get ahold of me send a letter to Moony, he's here to help too._

 _Speak soon._

* * *

The prospect of talking to Sirius face-to-face was one of the few things that sustained Harry over the coming weeks (as well as Hermione). The shock of finding himself school champion had worn off slightly now, and the fear of what was facing him had started to sink in. He tried to keep in mind what Hermione had said to him, but it was difficult to keep that warm flickering flame of hope inside of him, when he felt so dark. The first task was drawing steadily nearer; he felt as though it were crouching ahead of him hike some horrific monster, barring his path. He had never suffered nerves like these; they were way beyond anything he had experienced before a Quidditch match, not even his last one against Slytherin, which had decided who would win the Quidditch Cup. Harry was finding it hard to think about the future at all; he felt as though his whole life had been heading up to, and would finish with, the first task.

Admittedly, he didn't see how Sirius was going to make him feel any better about having to perform an unknown piece of difficult and dangerous magic in front of hundreds of people, but the mere sight of a friendly face would be something at the moment. Harry wrote back to Sirius saying that he would be beside the common room fire at the time Sirius had suggested (he had also penned a letter to Professor Lupin sent with Hedwig, just enquiring as to how he was); and he and Hermione spent a long time going over plans for forcing any stragglers out of the common room on the night in question. If the worst came to the worst, they were going to drop a bag of Dungbombs, but they hoped they wouldn't have to resort to that - Filch would skin them alive.

Harry had agreed Hermione should be present for the conversation. She was his sole friend now, and she was so very important. Harry couldn't imagine how much worse he'd be feeling if he didn't have her endless support. Looking back, he wasn't sure how he'd ever gotten along without her. When she was helping him with work, drawing up a timetable for learning both schoolwork and extra spells (when he'd spoken about how he wouldn't know what the first task would be, her response had been 'well we'll just learn everything we can'), it felt easier to not worry about the first task, it took his mind off everything.

However, his time with Hermione was now the only good thing about life at Hogwarts. Life became even worse for Harry within the confines of the castle, for Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly colored life story of Harry.

Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all.

The article had appeared ten days ago, and Harry still got a sick, burning feeling of shame in his stomach every time he thought about it. He had barely spoken to Rita, she had interviewed all the champions during photos and other than denying that he had entered himself he had mainly just ignored her. How could she have gotten so much out of so little?

 _'I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now. . . . Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it. . . . I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me. . .'_

But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than transforming his silences into long, sickly sentences: She had interviewed other people about him too.

Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school.

Harry and Hermione had read the article together. It had appeared in the morning Daily Prophet delivered to the table, and Hermione had immediately snatched it up, grabbed Harry by the hand and had rushed him out. They had hidden in the library, missing their first lesson to read through it. Hermione had been red with anger, and then red with embarrassment when she had got to the bit about the two of them.

When they had finished reading the part about their supposed relationship, they had been sat shoulder to shoulder. It had created another awkward pause, like in the hospital wing, and for a few moments they had sat in silence, just staring at one another, before Harry's cough had broken the tension and they had carried on as they were.

Harry wasn't sure what the awkward silences meant, but he knew that every time they happened he felt something.. something he couldn't identify.. and it wasn't necessarily a bad feeling, completely confusing yes, but not bad.

Regardless, they had camped out in the library (Hermione had snuck out twice to grab food) but then had been forced to return to lessons the next day and it had been torture. Hermione had stuck by his side as the Slytherin's constantly tormented him, but it hadn't been easy. In fact during Care of Magical Creatures Harry had lost it completely and ended up throwing a wet, slimy pigs heart across the class at Malfoy. It had hit him square in the face, and the class (bar the Slytherins) had erupted in laughter. Hagrid had turned a blind eye, and Ron had looked at Harry for the first time in weeks – it was in improvement, but since then they had stepped up their mocking.

"Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"

"Since when have you been one of the top students in the school, Potter? Or is this a school you and Longbottom have set up together?"

"Need a little cry Harry? I'm sure Hermione's avaliable for a shoulder to cry on"

Hermione had come in for her fair share of unpleasantness too, but she hadn't yet started yelling at innocent bystanders; in fact, Harry was full of admiration for the way she was handling the situation.

"Stunningly pretty? Her?" Pansy Parkinson had shrieked the first time she had come face-to-face with Hermione after Rita's article had appeared. "What was she judging against - a chipmunk?"

"Ignore it" Hermione said in a dignified voice, holding her head in the air and stalking past the sniggering Slytherin girls as though she couldn't hear them. "Just ignore it, Harry" (Though he hadn't been able to ignore it, turning around to tell Pansy she would only be judged against a troll ... it hadn't felt good to make a girl cry, but it had felt good to stand up for Hermione).

But Harry couldn't ignore it. He was feeling a mixture of uncompromising rage, and a sense of defiance. He wanted to prove all of these people wrong, he wanted to excel in the first task, and prove to them all that he could do this.

* * *

It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. The days until the first task seemed to slip by as though someone had fixed the clocks to work at double speed. Harry's feeling of barely controlled panic (occasionally interrupted by feelings of happiness, but only when he was alone with Hermione; she seemed to be the only person capable of distracting him) was with him wherever he went, as ever present as the snide comments about The Daily Prophet article.

On the Saturday before the first task, all students in the third year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade. Hermione told Harry that it would do him good to get away from the castle for a bit and Harry didn't need much persuasion.

"What about Ron though?" He said, trying not to let any insecurity or worry creep into his voice. "Don't you want to go with him?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at that, and looked Harry dead in the face. "I've barely spoken to Ron since he accused you of lying, I think he's being extremely childish and I told him so when he asked me for help with his homework" She nodded then, and crossed her arms almost in defiance. "He may be feeling jealous, but thats no excuse for upsetting you, he should be here supporting you, like I am"

Harry smiled at her then, and as they made their way past McGonagall at the doors (who always seemed to have a glimmer in her eye when she saw the pair of them together now, Harry wasn't sure what to make of it), Harry felt a warmth again. Hermione had chosen him over Ron, true she had always seemed to get along better with Harry day to day over Ron, but he had been worried that the rift in friendship with Ron would drive Hermione away, and yet it hadn't.

"Okay, so where do you want to go?" Harry asked with a small smile, as they trudged down the path towards Hogsmeade. A few people walking past made there typical comments but Harry found them easier to ignore now he wasn't confined to the castle. Ron walked past them quickly, staring straight ahead, his hands appearing to shake by his sides; Harry felt bad then, Ron may have turned his back on him but he hadn't on Hermione; Hermione had chosen Harry over Ron. Harry thought that would have to hurt.

They fell into easy conversation as they entered the village, and went immediately to Honeydukes Sweetshop. They both picked up big cream-filled chocolates, and made their way back outside and out of the cramped Honeydukes as quickly as they could.

"So where do you want to go? The Three Broomsticks?" Hermione asked with a smile.

Harry went to nod before he noticed someone stood at the door, and he immediately wanted to bolt. Rita Skeeter and her photographer friend had just emerged. Talking in low voices, they glanced upward and both immediately caught Harry's eye. Before he could think to make a run for it, they were on him, Rita already snagging her quill out of her bag and resting it on some parchment.

"Harry, sweetie" She said with her ever present hard jawed smile. "Fancy saying a few words? How you're feeling about the upcoming task? We could get a drink, with your lady friend here? Miss Granger isn't?" She smiled at them both then. "How sweet the two of you are, a great story"

"Actually..we're in a bit of rush" He said weakly, she was like a venus fly trap, he felt clamped within her jaws, and had no idea how to escape without being extremely rude. He looked to Hermione, who gave him a very annoyed look before linking her arm through his.

She smiled simperingly at Rita then, and spoke "Actually Miss Skeeter, we're just off for a drink, so we'll have to catch you another time!"

And with that she marched him forwards, in no particular direction. They walked quickly and swiftly, with Rita's cry of "How sweet, young love" chasing after them. They didn't slow down, as Hermione pulled him down a side street, her smile immediately dropping. For a moment they just looked at one another, before doubling over laughing. The pair of them collapsed into giggles, Harry holding the wall for support and Hermione holding onto his shoulder.

"That was very good" He said between chuckles, holding his stomach in discomfort. "Being rude to her did not seem like a good idea"

"No" Hermione said wiping a tear away from her eye "Seemed like it was easier to pretend we're madly in love, a couple" she laughed again. "As if that was true!"

"Yeah, as if!" Harry exclaimed, catching her eye as he finished the sentence. The laughter seemed to stop immediately as they caught each others gaze, and another awkward moment engulfed the atmosphere. In fact for a moment they seemed to draw in closer to one another, before they heard a large cough come from a passerby, and they immediately broke off, each smiling weakly.

'So..' Harry said with an air of nervousness, 'Shall we get something to drink?'

'Sounds good' Hermione said, her eyes swiveling around, looking anywhere but him 'Ooh look, theres a tea shop there' She smiled and nodded, as did he, and they valiantly made there way to the door.

* * *

Three times that had happened now, and each time something was being said that neither would say. Hermione recalled each moment they had ended up locking gazes, and the atmosphere to shift. It felt so foreign, so different from anything she'd experienced, and so she had no idea how to react.

Hermione was a person who learned from books, teaching, studying. Even before she had become a witch she had been top of every class, and it was the same at Hogwarts. Anything that she didn't know, she learned. However, those moments with Harry, those moments that seemed to border on something .. she couldn't learn what those were about through a book or a lecture, she just had to experience them, and that made her uneasy.

It seemed to be since Harry's name had been pulled as a champion, something had shifted in their relationship. Of course they'd always been close, but as a trio with Ron, now it was just the two of them and they'd grown even closer. It was strange, but not unwelcome, and Hermione found herself thankful that she got to spend so much time alone with Harry, the moments they had together had been some of the happiest of her life.

"Ooh look theres a tea shop" She said with a nod and a smile, her eyes averting his; it had been awkward enough, she didn't want to make it anymore so. And so she hurried down the little side street, Harry in tow.

As they entered it seemed to be a cramped, steamly little place where everything seemed to be decorated with frills and bows. It reminded Hermione almost fondly of her Aunt Mabels living room.

"Welcome" a server said who immediately accosted them at the door. "Cute isn't it?"

"Er..yeah" Harry said, and Hermione could immedaitely see the lie in his eyes. She bit back a giggle, and found the atmosphere between them normal once again.

They sat down at the last remaining table (she had no idea this place was so popular), which was over by the steamy window. It seemed to be packed full with couples. Cedric was sitting about a foot and a half away with Cho Chang. They were holding hands. Hermione looked at Harry and noticed the discomfort on his face; and she understood it completely, it seemed to be all couples, and many of them were kissing or holding hands.. its not like they would be doing that.

"What can I get you, M'dears?" said Madam Puddifoot, a very stout woman with a shiny black bun, squeezing between their table and Cedric's with great difficulty.

"Two coffees, please" Harry said, keen to get out quickly; this was not his kind of place, and he could tell it wasn't Hermione's either.

Still they fell into easy conversation about Ancient Runes again, and Hermione felt proud of Harry as he spoke off definitions and terms with ease. He'd really picked up on so much in such a short time. Hermione secretly felt that if he hadn't constantly slacked off (mainly due to Ron), he would have been in an even better position in school than he was now (and he was consistently coming second to her in several subjects, though to her chagrin beating her in DADA).

In the time it took the coffees to arrive, they had gone over the last lesson and lapsed into conversation about muggle movies; Hermione appreciated how Harry had grown up in a muggle household, and so she didn't always have to talk to him about magic as she did most other people at Hogwarts. It was refreshing to discuss something different. As they spoke, Hermione noticed (out of the corner of her eye), that Cedric and Cho had started kissing over their sugar bowl.

She felt a little hot around the neck, and noticed Harry's cheeks turning redder as well. She felt stupid; it's not as though they were competing with Cedric and Cho. The latter were clearly boyfriend and girlfriend, whereas her and Harry were friends, best friends sure but nothing more. She wondered for a second or two about something more.. it had seemed like there had been moments where it had felt like something more, in those awkward silences. For those few seconds of awkwardness and intensity she couldn't describe, it felt like something could happen, and then it had been broken, and she had felt foolish for her thoughts.

She began drinking her coffee, and was relieved when Harry brought up the first task. For a good ten minutes they speculated, but came up with nothing new. In reality there was a 1000 and one things it could be, and talking about it didn't change that. Hermione felt pleased though that Harry was talking about it, the last few times she had mentioned it he had cast her look that it was better not discussed.

She felt conscious of the slurping noises at the next table, and as her eyes glanced at Harry's empty cup, she immediately suggested they leave. Harry seemed relieved to follow her as he threw some money on the table, and Hermione also quite frankly felt glad to leave. They were met with rain outside (her favorite weather), and she felt immediately better.

Things inside the tea shop had been odd.. uncomfortable in a way, like they were in some kind of bubble, it had been the same awkward, intense atmosphere that they had experienced a few times this year.

Hermione wasn't sure if she hated the awkwardness that had her staring into Harry's deep green eyes, or loved the feeling that maybe, there was something more, something different between her and her best friend.

* * *

so thoughts? I didn't want to say it up top and spoil anything, but in terms of crossover I was talking about taking stuff from Order of Phoenix, in the Harry/Cho relationship and introducing it through Harry/Hermione, it won't happen a ton, but I wanted to lend this scene as I thought it would be cool with Harry/Hermione - please tell me what you think!

next chapter will most likely include the first task! and we'll get to see a bit more of ron, again this story won't be a huge ron bashing story, but it won't be easy on him; especially when he tries to apologise to harry.

as always hope you enjoyed, and see you soon!

EDITED: 21/01/2018, syntax/grammar/phrasing fixed, minor changes.


	4. four

authorsnote: hello everyone! so here it is, sorry it's a little bit late but I have been snowed under with assignments! I have however already started work no the next chapter so it should be up sooner! I do hope you enjoy this, and I hope you like the slow burn H/HR. I understand it may be a bit frustrating to see it go so slow, but I don't want to rush it, I want it to feel realistic and so, it has to be natural. Also I wanted to quickly address a few things that came up in reviews:

ron coming back to the trio - he will (as in the books) become apart of things again but things will be VERY different.

hermione's patronus - I know she didn't learn it until 5th year, but I'm suspending canon for this, it always seemed a bit funky to me that hermione, who is already studying NEWT magic in 5th year and OWL magic in 4th year, would know of the patronus, and would have tried it. so lets pretend she learned it on her own last year!

will harry be asking hermione to the dance? wait and see! I can say it will be a bit more complicated than that.

wanting me to bold/italicise the book content - a great suggestion but I make tiny additions even through each paragraph (sometimes I don't admittedly), so I think it would look very clunky.

so I hope that clears all of that up! thank you all for asking me these questions - I genuinely love getting them, any and all reviews are lovely (except for hate), and answering these questions actually helps me think about the story! so as always I do hope you enjoy, and please keep on reviewing, and fav/follow!

song recommendations: bloodstream - stateless.

* * *

I think I might have inhaled you,

i can feel you behind my eyes,

you've gotten into my bloodstream,

I can feel you flowing in me

...

The next few hours seemed to move in a blur, and soon it was nighttime. He remembered outside of the Three Broomsticks, Hagrid accosting him and asking to meet him, then the dragons then the discussion with Sirius and then finally the confrontation with Ron.

He had felt weirdly happy that finally he had said something to his old best friend. It had felt good to be mean to him, and though Harry knew that wasn't a good trait, he couldn't help it. Ron had not only interrupted him at a crucial moment, but for weeks had made him feel like a liar. It was one thing for the entire school to be against him, but Ron? That was what had truly hurt.

Harry wasn't sure he could ever forgive him.

He got up on Sunday morning and dressed so inattentively that it was a while before he realised he was trying to pull his hat onto his foot instead of his sock. When he'd finally got all his clothes on the right parts of his body, he hurried off to find Hermione, locating her in the common room. They had taken to meeting their every morning. Of course she had seen everything he had the night before (he had dragged her along to see the dragons, and Hagrid hadn't minded, she had said hello to Sirius, and joined the conversation), he only had to tell her about the confrontation with Ron, which had only happened after she had gone to bed and implored them to do the same, but admitted they needed to talk alone. No, he was glad she hadn't seen him chuck the badge at Ron's head and call him an 'up his own arse-idiot' and he left that part out of the retell.

They walked into the Great Hall, and as always everyone he walked past either murmured something under their breath or shot him a dirty look, however he found it didn't bother him as much anymore; he had gotten good at shrugging it off. And so they grabbed some toast to go, and a flask of pumpkin juice and headed out onto the grounds. They briefly passed Ron, and though Harry ignored him, Hermione seemed to shoot a glare his way; clearly she was taking Harry's side on the confrontation.

Again the worry that was ever present due to the First Task lifted slightly when Hermione turned to smile at him; he couldn't imagine what sort of state he'd be in without her presence. Luckily they had managed to shrug off the awkwardness the coffee shop had caused when they had ran back from Hogsmeade in the pouring down rain. They had laughed through the downpour, and Harry offering her jacket had seemed friendly, rather than odd.

As he finished his story about the recent going on's, she nodded, and though alarmed as she was by Sirius' warnings about Karkaroff, Hermione still thought that the dragons were the most pressing problem.

"Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening" she said desperately (for she had seen them too, Harry still had nail marks on his arm from where she'd clutched him), worry invading her eyes, "And then we can worry about Karkaroff"

They walked three times around the lake, trying all the way to think of a simple spell that would subdue a dragon. Nothing whatsoever occurred to them, so they retired to the library instead. Here, Harry pulled down every book he could find on dragons, and both of them set to work searching through the large pile.

"Talon-clipping charms...treating scale-rot... This is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy..."

"Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate... But Sirius said a simple one would do it..."

"Let's try some simple spellbooks, then," said Harry, throwing aside Men Who Love Dragons Too Much, and glancing across at Hermione. Her hair was a mess of curls around her face, and her eyes were full of determination. He smiled at her then, and she met his eyes, her own smile tense.

He returned to the table with a pile of spellbooks, set them down, and began to flick through each in turn, Hermione whispering nonstop at his elbow.

"Well, there are Switching Spells...but what's the point of switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous...The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide. I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall...unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself? Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing O.W.L. practice papers..."

'Well if whatever I have to do is on those awful practice papers you made me look over, you may as well feed me to the dragons now' Harry spoke, rolling his eyes as he did. He felt a smack to his arm, and Hermione glared at him; she hated it when he talked about his possible demise.

He stared hopelessly down the index of Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed. Instant scalping...but dragons had no hair...pepper breath...that would probably increase a dragon's firepower...horn tongue...just what he needed, to give it an extra weapon...

"Oh no, he's back again, why can't he read on his stupid ship?" said Hermione irritably as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look over at the pair of them, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. "Come on, Harry, we'll go back to the common room...his fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away..."

And sure enough, as they left the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past them, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist.

They returned to the common room and seemed to work for hours. Harry felt as though his insides were writhing; the situation seemed truly hopeless. It was 1am and he and Hermione were sat next to one another, looking over one giant spell book. Everything seemed either too complex, or useless against a dragon. And Harry could feel panic setting in; what use was it knowing about the dragon if he had no idea how to fight it?

Minutes seemed to tick by, and the page didn't turn, Harry felt his eyes dropping, and as he glanced at Hermione he saw her in the same position. She was the last thing he saw before he fell asleep.

* * *

She felt blissfully comfy, and not her usual kind of comfy. She felt warm, and whatever she was lying on was hard, not in a bad way, whatever she was lying on was also warm. She snuggled in closer, her eyes opening reluctantly.

The first thing she noticed was that she was not in her bedroom, the light outside was still dark, and she was not alone.

Looking out the corner of her eye, she noticed what, (or rather who) she had been lying on, and a flush hit her cheeks as soon as she realised. It didn't help either that as soon as her eyes found his, she noticed he was awake.

Somehow, they had both fallen asleep over their spell books, and had ended up in a .. somewhat awkward position. Hermione was curled up on her side, her head on Harry's chest. Harry had his arm around her back, and his head had clearly been on top of hers. His fingers were curled around her waist, and her hand was on his chest, her other arm wrapped around his stomach. She felt warm and comfortable but as soon as they locked eyes she moved. Her blush somehow deepening.

"Ermm..it's warm" she said, her lame excuse coming out in a squeak. Her eyes didn't leave his, and she felt it again, the tension they had succumbed too a few times before. Her eyes were locked with his, and she felt her palms sweat. For a moment they both seemed to lean in before the fire spat, and Hermione jumped backwards, and they detangled themselves from one another.

She honestly didn't know what to make of these moments, they seemed to be piling up and she knew they meant something. It was nothing that she had ever experienced. A tension seemed to settle over them, and whenever she felt that tension .. she felt drawn to him, towards her best friend! It was atrocious, shocking and almost welcoming. It wasn't a bad feeling, it made her feel warm, and made her want to lean in those few extra inches, just to see what would happen.

Still she didn't. Instead she picked up her wand and extinguished the fire as Harry cleared his throat, and muttered something about how they should go to bed. Hermione nodded immediately in agreement and hurried up the stairs, barely glancing over her shoulder. She quietly tiptoed into her shared room with the other 4th year girls and crawled into bed, pulling the curtains shut around her. It was still early, but thankfully they were all asleep, she'd had enough of them whispering about how much time she was spending with Harry.

As soon as her back hit the bed she let out a deep breath, the tension leaving her body immediately. It was such a strange thing, such a strange feeling, and she wished she knew what it meant. It had never been between them before, and yet now it seemed to be appearing constantly, escalating each time.

With a deep sigh, Hermione curled up, placing her wand under her pillow and biting down on her lip. It took far too long for her to fall asleep, and when she did, green eyes were all she dreamed about.

* * *

Harry barely slept that night. When he awoke on Monday morning, he seriously considered for the first time ever just running away from Hogwarts. But as he looked around the Great Hall at breakfast time, and thought about what leaving the castle would mean, he knew he couldn't do it. It was the only place he had ever been happy...well, he supposed he must have been happy with his parents too, but he couldn't remember that.

There was another reason he wanted to stay as well. Hermione. Things didn't seem to be in 'friend' territory anymore, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. Of course they were best friends, he had come to rely on her completely, but there were those moments.. the moments that drove him crazy with wonder. What was going on? Last night they had woken up in each others arms for Christs sake! What did it mean?

It was far too confusing to think about, and so when they met one another in the common room Harry didn't approach the subject and neither did Hermione. Instead they fell into easy conversation, and the tension seemed to disappear. That was another confusing thing, how did they flip flop so easily? One minute it felt as though the air was ripe with tension and anything could happen, and then they were back to being Harry and Hermione, best friends but nothing more.

Gods it was confusing.

Harry had so much to worry about at the moment, he still had no idea how to get past his dragon, and no idea how he would survive the first task. It was too much, and so reluctantly (Harry despised leaving the subject), he didn't bring it up and instead they chatted more and more about the first task, again coming up with nothing.

As they made there way out of the Great Hall, he saw Cedric Diggory leaving the Hufflepuff table.

Cedric still didn't know about the dragons...the only champion who didn't, if Harry was right in thinking that Maxime and Karkaroff would have told Fleur and Krum...

"Hermione, I'll see you in the greenhouses" Harry said, coming to his decision as he watched Cedric leaving the Hall. "Go on, I'll catch you up."

"Harry, you'll be late, the bell's about to ring -"

"I'll catch you up, okay?"

By the time Harry reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was with a load of sixth-year friends. Harry didn't want to talk to Cedric in front of them; they were among those who had been quoting Rita Skeeter's article at him every time he went near them. He followed Cedric at a distance and saw that he was heading toward the Charms corridor. This gave Harry an idea. Pausing at a distance from them, he pulled out his wand, and took careful aim.

"Diffindo!"

Cedric's bag split. Parchment, quills, and books spilled out of it onto the floor. Several bottles of ink smashed.

"Don't bother," said Cedric in an exasperated voice as his friends bent down to help him. "Tell Flitwick I'm coming, go on..."

This was exactly what Harry had been hoping for. He slipped his wand back into his robes, waited until Cedric's friends had disappeared into their classroom, and hurried up the corridor, which was now empty of everyone but himself and Cedric.

"Hi," said Cedric, picking up a copy of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration that was now splattered with ink. "My bag just split...brand-new and all..."

"Cedric," said Harry, "The first task is dragons."

"What?" said Cedric, looking up.

"Dragons," said Harry, speaking quickly, in case Professor Flitwick came out to see where Cedric had got to. "They've got four, one for each of us, and we've got to get past them."

Cedric stared at him. Harry saw some of the panic he'd been feeling since Saturday night flickering in Cedric's gray eyes.

"Are you sure?" Cedric said in a hushed voice.

"Dead sure," said Harry. "I've seen them."

"But how did you find out? We're not supposed to know..."

"Never mind," said Harry quickly - he knew Hagrid would be in trouble if he told the truth. "But I'm not the only one who knows. Fleur and Krum will know by now - Maxime and Karkaroff both saw the dragons too."

Cedric straightened up, his arms full of inky quills, parchment, and books, his ripped bag dangling off one shoulder. He stared at Harry, and there was a puzzled, almost suspicious look in his eyes.

"Why are you telling me?" he asked.

Harry looked at him in disbelief. He was sure Cedric wouldn't have asked that if he had seen the dragons himself. Harry wouldn't have let his worst enemy face those monsters unprepared - well, perhaps Malfoy or Snape...

"It's just...fair, isn't it?" he said to Cedric. "We all know now...we're on an even footing, aren't we?"

Cedric was still looking at him in a slightly suspicious way when Harry heard a familiar clunking noise behind him. He turned around and saw Mad-Eye Moody emerging from a nearby classroom.

"Come with me Potter," he growled. "Diggory, off you go"

Harry stared apprehensively at Moody. Had he overheard them?

"Er - Professor, I'm supposed to be in Herbology -"

"Never mind that, Potter. In my office, please..."

The next minutes with Moody seemed to blur, but he left the Professors room feeling a lot more confident. His hands had stopped shaking, and he had a plan.. well at least some semblance of a plan. That was a big step up from the day before, and it was something he was holding onto. He would need Hermione's help though, he would need it desperately.

"Hermione" Harry whispered, when he had sped into greenhouse three minutes later, uttering a hurried apology to Professor Sprout as he passed her (thankfully she just nodded, evidently too happy with his increased work effort to scold him) "Hermione, I've got a plan, and I need your help"

"What d'you think I've been trying to do, Harry?" she whispered back, her eyes round with anxiety over the top of the quivering Flutterby Bush she was pruning. "Tell me, what do we need to do?"

"We need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon"

* * *

And so they practiced for what seemed like hours. They didn't have lunch but headed to a free classroom. It was hard and Harry just couldn't seem to do it. Every time he tried the charm it seemed to falter halfway through, and fail. If anything this was making him feel worse, yes it gave him a goal to work towards but the fact he was failing.. it made him feel awful.

"Harry, Harry!" Hermione snapped him out of his thoughts, and glared at him as the book he had been summoning dropped halfway too him. It was clear he wasn't concentrating and he gave her a sheepish grin. He tried again, and again, and again and it just didn't happen, he couldn't do it.

On what must have been the 500th attempt (Hermione had skipped Arithmancy and Harry had a free period), Harry was still struggling and he was again snapped out of his concentration by Hermione, but this time in a very different way. Her hands had gripped his shoulders, and he almost dropped his wand in shock as her hands moved to his face, her eyes blazing.

"Harry, you have to concentrate. This is some mental blockage that we don't have time for" she spoke fiercely, and Harry nodded; she was right. He was letting his fear get in the way and it was stopping him. He didn't have time to worry, he could worry tomorrow, when he was actually facing the dragon. He nodded at her, gritting his teeth, and she stepped aside, her arms crossed as he lifted his wand.

They broke for some dinner at about 6, wolfing it down before returning to an empty classroom, this time under the invisibility cloak. Harry tried to ignore that Hermione was as close to him as she had been the other night, and instead he avoided her eye; he needed to concentrate, he couldn't deal with more tension tonight, as much as he wanted to explore it, tonight was not the night.

They kept practicing until past midnight. They would have stayed longer, but Peeves turned up and, pretending to think that Harry wanted things thrown at him, started chucking chairs across the room. Harry valiantly shielded Hermione from the worst of the onslaught, and they then left in a hurry before the noise attracted Filch, and went back to the Gryffindor common room, which was now mercifully empty.

At two o'clock in the morning, Harry stood near the fireplace, surrounded by heaps of objects: books, quills, several upturned chairs, an old set of Gobstones, and Neville's toad, Trevor. Only in the last hour had Harry really got the hang of the Summoning Charm.

"That's better, Harry, that's loads better" Hermione said, looking exhausted but very please, her eyes shining with pride.

"Well, now we know what to do next time I can't manage a spell," Harry said, throwing a rune dictionary back to Hermione, so he could try again, "Threaten me with a dragon. Right..." He raised his wand once more. "Accio Dictionary!"

The heavy book soared out of Hermione's hand, flew across the room, and Harry caught it.

"Harry, I really think you've got it!" said Hermione delightedly.

"Just as long as it works tomorrow" Harry said "The Firebolt's going to be much farther away than the stuff in here, it's going to be in the castle, and I'm going to be out there on the grounds..."

"That doesn't matter," said Hermione firmly." Just as long as you're concentrating really, really hard on it, it'll come. Harry, we'd better get some sleep...you're going to need it."

* * *

so thoughts? I am so sorry this is a bit filler-y! Its necessary for the story. and I apologise the first task hasn't happened yet - it will be the next chapter! that and the ron reunion will be coming, and we will be diverging from canon quite a bit more in the next chapter so buckle up!

also please follow/fav and review - they truly keep me writing.

EDITED: 21/01/2018, syntax/grammar/phrasing fixed, minor changes.


	5. five

authorsnote: my longest chapter yet and for good reason! so a complaint about this fic is that it has been too canon, and I've taken too much directly from the books. I hear you! sometimes I have to rip directly from GOF for story progression, but I made a particular effort in this chapter to rewrite the paragraphs as much as possible, ensuring a lot more new content. tell me which one you prefer, I am no where near as good a writer as JK but hopefully you prefer this? please review and tell me! also what do you think of H/HR? I know a few people have said they're worried the relationship is going a bit too slow, but again thats necessary for character development, and it will heat up soon! so I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and please, please tell me! reviews are an awesome thing.

song recommendations: centuries: fallout boy.

* * *

some legends are told,

some turn to dust or to gold,

but you will remember me,

remember me for centuries

...

Harry had been focusing so hard on learning the Summoning Charm that evening that some of his blind panic had left him. It returned in full measure, if not more the following morning. The atmosphere around school was both tense and exciting; Harry felt the former emotion, but the latter he could not get behind. Lessons were to stop midday, giving students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure – though of course, they didn't yet know what they would find there.

Harry felt oddly separate from everyone around him, and only spoke to Hermione throughout the morning. She remained by his side as usual, and debated whether smuggling the firebolt into the stands counted as cheating. Eventually she decided it didn't matter; his summoning charm was strong enough to get it from the castle, it wasn't worth the risk of a penalty. He loved the fact she had so much faith in him, and just wished he had that faith in himself; he was so nervous, he wondered whether he mightn't just lose his head when they tried to lead him out to his dragon, and start trying to curse everyone in sight.

Far too quickly Professor McGonagall was approaching him and leading him outside. He only heard Hermione's whisper of "Good luck, you've got this" before he was steered into the tent next to the Quidditch stadium. Once left inside, he could only look around in worry. The other champions stood around; Krum looked stoic, Fleur terrified and Cedric gave him a half smile he knew was forced. He forced his lips upward, but quickly dropped the expression, and went to sit on a chair near the back of the tent. He found if he was sat down he was less likely to faint and fall on his face.

He took deep breaths to try and keep himself calm. A couple of minutes passed before he heard a peculiar noise; a hissing sound. For a moment he panicked that the stress had driven him completely insane, before he saw Hermione's face, poking through a gap at the back of the tent. He quickly hurried to meet her, standing shoulder to shoulder to hide her from view.

All of a sudden he felt a deep sense of relief, and he seemed to calm immediately. Just her presence seemed to help, and for the 50th time in the past weeks he felt extremely grateful he had Hermione by his side.

"How are you feeling, okay?" said Hermione, her hand reaching round the gap to link with his.

He found his jaw tense up as he tried to reply and instead he squeezed her hand in response.

"The key is to concentrate" he could feel her own body shaking next to his, and he pushed down the urge to pull her into his arms; he was worried enough without instigating another (possibly) awkward moment between the two of them. "After that you just have too..."

"Battle a dragon", he nodded, and again he felt nervous, like ice water had been injected into his veins. He heard a squeal from the other side of the tent and before he even realised what was going on, he felt Hermione launch herself into his arms.

He wrapped his own arms around her, and gripped her tightly (too tightly almost as he heard her squeal again and he eased his grip), picking her up off the floor. They stayed that way for several minutes before he let her down. He noticed then as her feet hit the floor just how close their faces were. For a moment he leaned in, and he noticed that she did too.

It was another one of those moments, where everything seemed incredibly intense, but again it was not unwelcome, not at all. It felt wonderful, and Harry's hands cupped Hermione's waist as he pulled her closer, and he felt her own hands scrunch into his hair... It was a moment that felt suspended in time. His gaze had dropped to her lips, and he found himself licking his own, leaning in inch by inch.

"Young Love!" he jumped back at the words, as did Hermione, and immediately the atmosphere broke. He noticed Hermione's cheeks go bright pink, and he could feel his own face getting very hot. They had been moments away, moments away from changing their friendship forever. And yet it hadn't felt bad, it had been wanted. Harry had felt a deep drive inside of him to lean those few extra centimetres in, and pull Hermione into kiss. He had wanted her, and yet once again they had been interrupted.

He looked up then and noticed Rita Skeeter walking forwards; she had been the one to cry out, effectively breaking the moment. Hermione scooted closer to him then and took his hand in hers, however when he gripped her hand he felt something odd. The atmosphere of extreme intensity may have died down.. but it wasn't back to normal. Again he wanted to lean in and capture Hermione's lips with his own. If they hadn't had company, he would have. There was a tension, the one they'd experienced and yet for once... it lingered.

"How.. stirring" Rita smiled at them both, her parchment and quill suspended in mid air. "Beautiful photo we managed to get, no doubt you two will be on the front page tomorrow!" her eyebrows rose and Harry again felt his cheeks flare up. Wonderful, more publicity.

"Champions, Champions!" he heard the voice of Albus Dumbledore and felt acute relief at the Headmasters timely arrival. Rita and her photographer moved to the edge of the tent and Harry moved to stand next to Dumbledore, his hand still gripping Hermione's. He turned to smile at her again and felt the same kind of urge, however again he refused to give in to it. They were surrounded by people, and Harry had the first task to think of.

"Now you've waited, you've wondered and at last the moment has arrived" There was a twinkle in Dumbledores eye as the Champions gathered round in a circle. "The moment only the four of you can fully appreciate" he smiled as he looked around and did an immediate double take when he saw Hermione, stood next to Harry with a sheepish look on her face. "But then ... what are you doing here Miss Granger?"

Hermione shot Harry an apologetic look and released his hand. Harry found himself feeling colder as she backed out of the tent, apologising. She gave him one last smile before she ducked out of the enclosure. Harry continued to watch her as she left, and then turned back to the circle of Champions and Judges. The relief he had felt whilst with Hermione had vanished, and he again felt extremely nervous.

"Barty the bag" Dumbledore spoke, and Barty Crouch moved forward towards the circle. Harry noticed he looked yet again worse, and found a bit of concern, but again it was overrun with fear. He held out the bag and explained about pulling out the 'something' they would all be facing. Of course, they all knew what was coming, and it was confirmed as Fleur pulled out a small live model of the Welsh Green.

Harry felt the nerves churn in his stomach, it was stupid but part of him had hoped that maybe.. just maybe the task had changed, maybe it wouldn't be facing dragons but instead they had to do a simple test. Of course Harry knew it had been almost idiotic wishful thinking and he steeled himself as the bag went round. He took note of each dragon and realised with a deep sense of dread, that he would pull the Horntail.

He reached into the bag and felt Dumbledores presence at his shoulder, he turned to give the Headmaster a weak smile, before dipping his own hand in the smoking bag. His heart seemed to race as the Horntail looked up at him and gave a small roar, he felt even worse than he had before; the Horntail was by far the worst one to face, vicious and nasty. His plan to summon his broomstick was feeling more and more stupid; what if it didn't come? What if it did and it was reduced to ash? Good god what if Harry forgot how to fly?

"Each of these tokes represent four very really dragons" Crouch spoke, and Harry couldn't resist looking across at all of the other champions, Fleur and Krum both looked nervous but not shocked, he had been right in that they had been told about the upcoming task. He glanced across at Cedric who gave him a nod. "Each dragon has been given a golden egg to protect, your task is simple, collect the egg. This you must do, as each egg contains a clue, without which you cannot hope to proceed to the second task" he nodded at them all as the judges made their way to the opening flap of the tent, Rita and her photographer following. "Good luck, Mr Diggory you will go first at the sound of the cannon, Miss Delacour second, Mr Krum third and then Mr Potter"

Minutes later the cannon sounded, and Cedric walked outside, his posture tense, his hands curled into fists. 30 minutes after Krum went, followed by Fleur 20 minutes following. The commentary was horrendous, Harry couldn't see what was going on and so listening to the endless stream of Bagmans commentary felt like torture.

"Ooh he almost had him there"

"Risky move! Shame it didn't work..."

"Very nice indeed! Clever spellwork"

"Ouch, that looked nasty"

It had Harry on edge and by the time the cannon went off, Harry felt for a moment relived. Of course the feeling was immediately followed by a stomach clenching fear. He stood up, his hands shaking by his side and walked outside, the tunnel he entered was small, and soon he was stood in the arena. It had been transformed into a dangerous playground of rocks, boulders and debris. Harry felt his nerves heighten as he held his wand aloft and yelled out the charm. The Horntail was stood at the far end of the enclosure, her eggs underneath her.

"Accio Firebolt!" He yelled out loud, holding his wand aloft, the charm had been cast ... now he had to hope.

But then for a moment he felt extremely worried; what if the charm didn't work? What if he couldn't defeat the Horntail and instead had to give up? His eyes lifted to those stood around the stadium, and his eyes found Hermione. For a moment their eyes met, and Harry smiled at her; it made him feel a bit taller, and so he approached the Horntail. If the Firebolt didn't come he would need to think of something to do, and he felt getting closer was the best idea.

However, the Horntail clearly didn't want him coming anywhere near her eggs, and so as he advanced forward, she shot a roaring whirl of flames at him. He threw himself to the left to avoid it and found himself behind one of the large boulders. Another roar and the feeling of extreme heart confirmed that she had latched onto his location. He could hear her moving closer, and so as she shot another set of flames at him, he dived again, a deep pain rumbling through his shoulder as he landed on it and hauled himself behind another large set of rocks. For a moment he took a deep breath and searched around. His eyes didn't catch anything but then he heard a deep whistling sound, and the relief nearly made him falter.

His firebolt was coming! Again he searched and saw his broom making the arc towards him. He reckoned it would come up right next to the boulder, and right within the range of the Horntail who was still sending flames his way. He guessed he'd have about a second or two to jump on or his prized possession would be ash and he would be without a plan.

And so he forced himself to his feet, clutched his wand, and waited. He felt the flames licking at the boulder behind him, and again heard the Horntails roar; she was getting closer. "Just hold on" he whispered the words to himself, and took a deep breath as the Firebolt sped closer and closer. It was coming, and it was now or never. 3, 2, 1..

He dived, his entire body leaping through the air, he landed on his broom with perfect precision and barely avoided the flames that followed him, he swerved out of the way and up into the sky, and heard the gasps of the crowd. They felt muted to him; the screams, the reactions, as though he was hearing them from another room.

He soared into the air, and surprisingly his nerves seemed a lot weaker, sure he was still terrified but he reassured himself. He had his broom, and now he just had to get the egg; he spied the golden glint between the Horntails legs and nodded to himself; he was at home on his broom, and he knew it. The Horntail was simply an opponent in a Quidditch match, nothing more. Again he took a deep breath before diving down. The Horntail immediately followed his dive with an arc of flames, and again he barely pulled out in time. He did however, circling her head twice and then pulling back to his former position.

The crowd whooped and screamed as he circled her and he absently heard Bagmans "Great Scott he can fly!" However, he was focused. He was ready. Again he circled the Horntail, aiming at the very least to make her dizzy. He continued to fly above her, circling her occasionally, and drawing her attention. Unfortunately she didn't seem to want to leave her eggs. For a moment he swooped over her, debating how to draw her away, when he heard the screams of the crowd.. he hadn't flown over her fast enough.

His entire body went into panic mode as he tried to pull up and away, however he wasn't fast enough. He dodged the flames but felt the harsh bite of her tile as she whipped around to face him. For a few minutes he flew through the air without meaning too, forced away by the force of her blow. He quickly righted himself and cradled his arm to his chest (luckily it was his left one, not his seekers arm). It didn't seem broken but he could see blood trickling over the torn bit of his top.

He rose higher in the air, and looked down at the dragon; she would not leave her eggs.. and so he would have to make her. He began to dance in the air, not getting any closer but simply moving back and forth, back and forth. He was a fly she so desperately wanted to swat, and she was roaring at him in anger. He continued, flying a bit lower, and with a deep sense of satisfaction, she fell for it. She spread her leathery wings in pursuit of him, and he smirked to himself as she did. As soon as she took off, he dived to the eggs, grabbing ahold of the golden one with his good arm. He swooped away from her as he did, and raised his arm in victory. The crowd was screaming with delight, however it seemed he had celebrated too soon.

With the egg under his arm, and the delight at actually getting through the first task he didn't notice the dragon, furiously going back for him. He turned around and swerved just in time as she sent another arc of fire at him. He furiously swerved left as she did, far too close to the ground. Again to avoid the fire he swerved further, and found himself skidding across the stone floor of the arena, his firebolt clattering off to one side. His satisfaction was abruptly cut short as he let out a groan of pain. His body had been sheltered from the rock by his clothes, but his face had skidded along the sharp and jagged ground. He could taste blood, dripping down his face and into his mouth, and his eyes watered as he forced himself to his feet.

The cheer from the crowd was even louder as he forced himself to stand, and he noticed (with relief), out of the corner of his eye the Horntail being led out of the stadium. He heard Bagmans voice again ("Our youngest champion is quickest to get the egg, though good Lord that looks painful!"). He picked up the golden egg from where it had landed next to him and retrieved his firebolt before he limped out of the stadium. His face felt as though it were on fire, as he hobbled over to a very nervous looking McGonagall; she immediately ushered him into the medical tent where he was placed in front of Madam Pomfrey. He caught site of himself in a mirror propped on the wall of the tent and grimaced at his own reflection; he had a split lip, the blossoming of a black eye and several small cuts along the right side of his face. There was a very large gash on his arm, and everything seemed to hurt.

"Dragons!" Madam Pomfrey had a disapproving tone and so as she gave Harry some sort of liquid to swallow he didn't question the contents as he forced it back. "What will they think of next?" she clicked her tongue, and began healing Harry's cuts. Each area she prodded with her wand hurt as it healed and felt better immediately after. She put his arm in a sling, and apologised for his black eye (she couldn't treat it as it had yet to blossom), and promised him some bruise cream if he came back to the hospital wing the day after. "Now wait here for 5 minutes and then you can go and get your scores!" she gave him a stern look as she bustled off to help Cedric.

Harry felt to be bursting with energy and he wanted to leave, but he knew Madam Pomfrey could be dangerous when a patient tried to take their health into their own hands and so he sat, his hands shaking from the adrenaline coursing through his body. A couple of minutes later he got to his feet, and walked to the tent flap, just to see what was going on. However, before he could make it outside two people came darting in, Hermione followed closely by Ron.

"You were sensational Harry!" Hermione pulled him into a tight hug, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. His adrenaline seeped away as he crushed his body to hers, and he felt instead an overwhelming sense of relief and pride. He smiled at her as she stepped back, and then turned his eyes to Ron, who looked both nervous and slightly annoyed.

"Harry…" his face was as pale as a sheet, and any annoyance seemed to leave him as he began to speak. "Whoever put your name in that Goblet.. because it I know it wasn't you, definitely wasn't you!" ... "I.. I reckon they're trying to do you in!"

Harry expected to feel some kind of relief at Ron's words, after all he had been hoping that Ron would eventually man up and admit how wrong he had been.. but the relief didn't come. He just felt cold as he looked at his old best friend, cold and angry. It had taken Harry fighting a dragon, and having his face crunched into bare rock for his friend to realise he had never wanted this? Had never wanted to be subjected to this? He saw Hermione move silently behind him, and he resisted the urge to grab her hand; that would not help situation.

"Caught on have you?" said Harry, his voice cold, and any sense of a smile having disappeared from his face.

"Harry..I'"Ron took a deep gulp of air, "I am so sorry, so, so, sorry..I was an idiot"

Harry nodded "At least we can agree on that" He shook his head again. "You really didn't think I was going to forgive you this easily did you?" Harry resisted the urge to laugh, and instead the nasty, cold smirk he had used to face off against Draco resurfaced. "You've spent weeks ignoring me, jealous of me I presume" Harry glanced back at Hermione, who looked both annoyed and sad, he knew that as much as she had sided with him against Ron, she had always pushed for them to make up. "And you think you can walk in here, and what? Rejoin the friendship?" again he shook his head. "Best friends do not act the way you acted, do not treat their friends the way you treated me and by extension Hermione"

Ron seemed to come back to himself a little, he was certainly no longer pale but instead flushed red. "Harry, I know, I know mate" he seemed to grit his teeth before he spoke again. "I was jealous, of course I was, and I'm sorry, it shouldn't have overruled my judgement" he took a step forward then and held out his hand. "It's just, you're always the famous one, the one on the front page of the prophet, the one who everyone admires and talks about.. I've never had that" he blushed a deeper red, and his ears seemed to flush as well. "I'm sorry mate, I was a prat"

"You were" again Harry agreed with him, and shook his head; he wanted to forgive Ron he did, really did; it was hard not having his friendship, but he still felt hurt, and again he knew.. things would never be the same. Still he took Ron's hand and shook it. "This doesn't mean everything is okay, not even close" he glanced back at Hermione who nodded at him. "But its a start" he released Ron's hand then, and Hermione stepped forward, it was hard not to see the picture; Ron on one side, Hermione and him on the other.

Ron nodded, and held his arm out. He was still a bright red, but seemed at least a little relieved. "Shall we get your scores?" He smiled then but Harry could see it was forced. For a moment he felt guilty but he shook it away; Ron had a lot of making up to do, that much was clear. Harry couldn't just forget everything. But he could see Ron was trying and with a little push from Hermione he followed him, Hermione close on his heels.

As they walked Ron began to babble about the other competitors, emphasising as much as he could that Harry had outdone them all. Harry appreciated it, and almost agreed with him, he had never been arrogant, and yet he felt it a little, he certainly felt a lot more confident, and he knew that was reflected in his walk; he was walking a little taller, and when Ron wasn't looking he reached out and grabbed Hermione's hand, giving it a squeeze. Ron continued to babble as the three of them reached the edge of the enclosure, only stopping when the scores began.

An 8 from Madame Maxine, A 9 from Crouch, 10's from both Dumbledore and Bagman, and finally a 6 from Karkaroff. Harry barely heard Ron's indignation on his behalf as he glanced at Hermione. She was beaming up at him, and slipped her hand through his as Bagman called all of the Champions to the tent.

He released her hand as he walked towards the Champions tent, she promised to wait outside, as did Ron. Harry nodded at them both as he walked into the tent. The meeting was short, simply telling them of what they needed to do to find out about the next task. Harry left feeling again full of confidence. He had faced a dragon.. what could possibly be worse? Though he quickly schooled himself on that train of thought, he would need to work out the clue and he would need to be prepared. His arm didn't hurt much, but his eye did and he knew he would have a shiner in place tomorrow; there was no time to get complacent.

He met Hermione and Ron as he left, and they made their way back up to the castle. Harry remained mostly quiet as Ron talked and talked about the task, Hermione occasionally interjecting. They passed by Rita Skeeter as they walked up the grounds, and Harry made a quick effort to hide from her. Unfortunately she noticed them.

"Harry! Hermione!" she grinned at them both, her quill and parchment seeming to appear out of thin air. "Talk to me my favorite love birds!" she was still grinning, and barely looked at Ron, who laughed at her words.

"Harry and Hermione? Love birds?!" again he laughed, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "Think you've got your information wrong there!"

For a moment Harry glanced at Hermione, he knew his own face was hot again, and he noticed that her cheeks were pink as well. He didn't say anything and neither did she, and as Rita hurried off as she spotted Dumbledore, Harry didn't move, instead he continued to look at Hermione, and she continued to look at him. Ron seemed distracted as Neville approached them, and so again Harry linked his hand with Hermione's, and for a moment it was just the two of them, looking into each others eyes, the same intensity returning.

It lasted only a moment, and yet Harry felt it.. that desire again. He knew that soon he would not be able to stop himself from acting on that desire. And if anything he looked forward to that moment, he looked forward to it a lot.

* * *

so thoughts? not as much H/HR in this chapter but it was the first task, so unfortunately I didn't have much room for them! I did borrow the tent scene from the movie, as I think its adorable. also what did you think of the confrontation with ron? this won't be the last argument that harry has with him for sure! - he's not quite forgiven but he is at the moment let back in the trio, though there will be a definite shift in the trios dynamic next chapter.

also I'm considering another pairing for this chapter, I want to pair ron off with someone I just don't know who. I have a few candidates. let me know your own in the reviews!

EDITED: 21/01/2018, syntax/grammar/phrasing fixed, minor changes.


	6. six

authorsnote: I am so sorry I took so long to get this up! Rest assured I am not abandoning this story - I have just been crazy busy with university and work, and so this is a bit delayed and a bit shorter than usual - don't hate me? The response to this story is amazing, and I want to keep writing it to completion, just sometimes real life gets in the way! I do hope you enjoy this chapter, and I promise the next update will come sooner.

song recommendations: video games - lana del ray.

* * *

It's you, it's you,

it's all for you,

everything I do,

I tell you all the time,

heaven is a place on earth with you

...

The weeks that followed the first task were some of the best of Harry's life. He was still doing well in school, his friends were back on his side, and he'd been spending more and more time with Hermione. Ron had pushed himself back into the trio, but Harry had been sure to keep him at arms length; he couldn't deny it was nice to have Ron back, but all was not mended yet. The three of them had been spending more time together, and it was nice to have the friendship group back together, but Harry made sure to keep time for Hermione, they'd bonded in a way Ron wouldn't be able to understand, and Harry wasn't about to give that up.

Mostly they hung out in the library, a place Ron found boring, he'd often head back to the common room instead and Harry would have his time to just be with Hermione. They'd study, and talk and just be together, it was nice and though they'd had a few more.. charged moments, it was the time Harry looked forward to the most.

One of the main things Harry did with Hermione was desperately try and work out the 2nd task. He didn't want to leave it last minute, and yet during the sessions with his best friend, he found himself often distracted. Even if it was just catching her eye and holding her gaze, or glancing up at her and finding himself starring for longer than usual. Regardless they'd made no headway with the egg, and yet Harry didn't mind, as long as he could continue to have time with Hermione, as long as he could continue to look at her the way he did.. that was fine with him, the egg could be damned.

He glanced to the side, barely pulled from his thoughts. It was the end of Transfiguration Class on a Thursday afternoon, and Harry's find was lapsing. His eyes were flickering to Hermione, who was sat next to him, and as she turned to glance at him he found himself caught in her gaze again, his eyes focused on her hazel ones.

"Potter! Granger! Will you pay attention?"

It was the end of the lesson; they had finished their work; he and Hermione had been quickest in changing their guinea-fowl into guinea-pigs, and Professor McGonagall had been most impressed. Ron however had been disgruntled, he'd dropped a few light comments of recent about Harry now continually outperforming not just him but everyone bar Hermione in class. Harry could tell it was slight jealously on Ron's behalf but he didn't take it personally, as much as Ron had upset him with his actions during the start of the Triwizard Tournament, Harry had come to understand them.

He'd always soared higher than Ron, always been the famous one, the one who was looked at, and he could understand why Ron felt put aside and looked over. Just because he understood, didn't mean he completely forgave, but was easy to be nice to Ron, understanding his actions a little bit more.

"Now that Potter and Granger have been kind enough to look at me" she emphasised the word _look_ and shot them both a frank look. Harry felt hot around the neck at her words, and as he glanced at Hermione he saw that her cheeks were pink. "I have something to say to you all"

"The Yule Ball is approaching – a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialise with our foreign guests. Now the ball will be open only to fourth-years and above – although you may invite a younger student if you wish"

At that Harry felt even hotter around the collar. A formal dance? Here at Hogwarts? He could hear a few girls giggling and as he looked around he noticed many of the guys looked as uncomfortable as he probably did. Harry had absolutely no experience in this kind of thing, though he could guess the kind of setting; a sudden mental image sprung up, of himself in a top hat and tails, accompanied by a girl in the sort of frily dress Aunt Petunia always wore to Uncle Vernon's work parties.

He barely heard the rest of Professor McGonagalls words, but did hear her loudly call his name at the end of class. He turned around, hoping he wasn't still red in the face, and stopped in front of her desk.

"Potter, the champions and their partners..."

"What partners?" said Harry, again feeling very hot and sure his face was bright red.

Professor McGonagall looked suspiciously at him, as though she thought he was trying to be funny. "Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter" she said coldly. "Your dance partners"

Harry's insides seemed to curl up and shrivel, and a fleeting image of Hermione rushed through his mind "Dance partners? No, no.. I don't dance" he added quickly.

"Oh, yes, you do" said Professor McGonagall irritably. "That's what I'm telling you. Traditionally the champions and their partners open the ball"

"I'm not dancing" he said, again feeling very hot around the collar.

"It is traditional" said Professor McGonagall firmly. "You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter"

"But I don't..."

"You heard me Potter" her face seemed to soften, and she smiled as she spoke again. "I know one girl who I'm sure would be happy to go with you, now go" she nodded at him in a very final sort of way.

* * *

Finding a partner wasn't the hard part, Harry already knew exactly who he wanted to ask to the ball, it was asking her that was the difficult bit and dealing with the consequences.

It would have been much easier to go with someone else, and Harry had already turned down five girls who had asked him. Two had been below fourth year who he'd tried (and probably failed) to let down gently. The other three had been older than him, and he'd barely escaped without being hexed. It was intimidating, and though it certainly grew his confidence, it wasn't easy.

Of course he wanted to ask Hermione – with Ron's absence they had grown closer and closer and Harry knew their relationship had shifted, so much so that Harry's feelings around Hermione had started to shift.. in a way he didn't quite understand. He still saw her as his friend, his best friend even – she'd firmly taken Ron's place, but there were other feelings as well. Feelings of .. a different kind. It was difficult to comprehend, and for the past few weeks Harry had tried to shove those thoughts to the furthest corners of his mind.

Asking Hermione to the dance came with two problems, the first was relatively simple; she said no. As much as his feelings had changed, he had no idea if hers had and that created an issue. What if she had no interest in him in that way? (what way Harry was still confused on). Surely that would make things awkward, and their friendship would suffer. Harry wanted to preserve their friendship above all else, he adored having Hermione as his close friend, and he couldn't stand the thought of anything getting in the way of that.

The other issue was Ron. As bitter as Harry was over Ron's behavior in the previous weeks he couldn't deny that it was nice to have Ron back in his life. He was the lighthearted one in the trio, always there with a joke to lighten the mood or a game of chess to take the stress off of studying. Of course things had been more awkward since he'd rejoined the friendship group, he'd found Harry's knew penchant for studying weird, and had gone out of his way to distract Harry during study sessions (he and Hermione had simply taken to studying in the library instead), and the closeness between him and Hermione had made things slightly awkward with Ron. But Harry couldn't deny he liked having his friend back, and he knew that asking Hermione to the ball would threaten that.

Harry wasn't as oblivious as Ron to Ron's own feelings. Harry knew that deep down Ron felt for Hermione; it was the way he looked at her, the way he spoke to her, there were definitely some unresolved feelings there, and though Harry didn't mind getting in the way of that (in fact he planned to get in the way, the thought of Hermione with Ron put a bad taste in his mouth), he was worried that this would be the final nail in the coffin for his friendship with Ron, and having just got his friend back.. he didn't want to lose him again.

And so the dilemma continued. To ask Hermione or not to ask.. of course he knew he would have to. He didn't want to ask anyone else to the ball, and he wanted to walk into the Great Hall with Hermione on his arm; the issue was how to ask her. How did he keep things light and not awkward? How did he ask Hermione in a way that would preserve their friendship but open the door for something more? It was all terribly confusing, and it gave Harry a headache just to think about it.

"Harry we've just got to grit our teeth and do it" Harry was snapped out of his thoughts by Ron, and he found himself nodding to his words; they were currently in the courtyard, various girls glanced at him as he walked past and though it was a confidence boost, it was of no use to him; there was only one girl he wanted to ask, and said girl was currently in Arithmancy class. "When we get back to the common room tonight.. we'll both have partners, agreed?" Again Harry nodded and clapped hands with Ron before they split ways, Ron was off to Divination, Harry to Ancient Runes (another awkward spot for Ron who complained about not having Harry around).

It was difficult, but every time he seemed to snatch a minute alone with Hermione it was quickly interrupted or Ron was present. Twice he'd managed to get her alone to only be interrupted by a Gryffindor clapping him on the back or a teacher stopping him to commend him on his new work ethic. It was a nightmare and as evening came Harry was feeling more and more desperate; Ron's suggestion to find partners tonight was not just out of a desire to get things over with, the ball was approaching fast and Harry had no doubt that other guys were interested in asking Hermione.

That thought made him grit his teeth; he hated the idea of Hermione going with someone else, and yet he knew he was running out of time. She'd confided in him that Viktor Krum had asked her and she'd gently turned him down; that had lifted his spirits.. she was still free! Perhaps keeping herself free because she wanted him to ask her? But also dampened his mood a little.. if she was saying no to international Quidditch players.. why would she say yes to him?

The day seemed to tick on and finally potions came to an end. Thankfully Ron departed, with a nervous expression but the determination of someone who was heading into battle; Harry knew he was off to ask someone to the ball. Harry felt his spirits lift once again; now was the perfect time to ask Hermione, and without thinking he grabbed for her hand and pulled her away from the rest of the class, taking her the opposite way of the Great Hall.

It was now or never.

* * *

It had been a long day, and a difficult one. It was only two days until the Yule Ball and her likelihood of going with her desired date was seeming to shrink as the hours went by.

She'd been holding out hope that Harry would eventually ask her; wasn't it traditional for the guy to ask the girl? Honestly with all the waiting around, the worry and the insecurities Hermione had debated asking Harry herself. She hadn't though.. even she was too nervous to outright ask Harry to the ball herself, plus she feared he'd say no.. and where would that put them?

She'd turned down three different offers now; Michael Corner, Neville and finally Viktor Krum. She'd been holding out for Harry, just waiting for him to ask.. had she been stupid in hoping he would ask her? What if he actually had no interest in asking her? Part of her was sure that he wanted to ask her; they'd been so close of recent, reaching a new level of friendship, not only had their friendship grown but other feelings seemed to be present as well, at least for her.

There had been those moments, those charged moments of intensity that she was sure meant something. The moment they'd fallen asleep together, the time in the tea shop, and then just the moments in which he caught her eye and they seemed to gaze at one another for what seemed like hours. She didn't understand what those moments meant, but she knew it meant her feelings for Harry had left the friendship zone and were heading somewhere very different. She was okay with that.. if Harry reciprocated those feelings, if he didn't then she was sure things would get awkward very quickly.

Had she been fooling herself? Imagining feelings that weren't there? To that she shook her head at herself, she had seen the look in his eyes when they had shared moments, seen him get hot around the collar when their eye contact lingered.. she was sure he felt something for her, and over hours of deliberating with herself she had come to the firm conclusion, she felt something for him too. She wasn't sure what those feelings meant, or what they even were but they were enough to make her want to act on them.

It was late and Transfiguration had just let out, and yet she was without a date. It was confusing and as she lingered behind to wait for Harry, she chewed down on her lip in annoyance; did he not want to ask her? Was that it? Did he already have a date?! No, she had overheard Harry and Ron's conversation, she knew he still hadn't asked anyone, including her. She glanced at the door as she heard mumbles from outside, and crossed her hands on her bag, Ron had already left mumbling to himself about just 'manning up', and so she was left alone as Harry came out from Transfiguration, looking a bit uncomfortable but also determined.. it was strange.

Stranger so when he grabbed her hand and led her away from the students leaving, her eyes widened as he led her away from the direction to dinner and down one of the various nooks and crannies hidden in the castle. She glanced around as he dropped her hand and moved to stand in front of her; they were in front of one of the many tapestries in the castle, it was hidden in a way, and as she looked up.. she was thankful for that.

She swore she must have been flaming something awful, her cheeks as red as they felt hot she was sure. What was going on?! Was he finally going to ask her? Her hopes seemed to jump in a second, was this the moment? Was it going to happen?

"Hermione" She jumped at her name and focused her eyes on Harry, he looked the same as before; nervous yet, determined (at least his cheeks weren't pink), he held a firm stance in front of her, and looked down to her as he spoke (he was already several inches taller than her, and he hadn't stopped growing yet, where as she was sure she had).

"Look, I'm just going to say it"

* * *

This was it, the moment, the moment to let his chips fall as they may and hope he got the outcome he wanted. He had steered Hermione into one of the more secluded tapestries in the castle, and was ready to ask her. He was determined, and as he looked down at her, and noticed her pink cheeks, he felt hope.. hope that maybe, just maybe she would say yes. There was a lot riding on this; possible loss of friendship, Ron's reaction, the feelings he had for her.. it was difficult, and yet he was going to do it, he would not balk now.

"Hermione" he spoke her voice with determination. "Look I'm just going to say it" he felt his nerves sky rocket as he looked down at her, taking both of her hands in his, partly because he felt it was romantic, partly to stop his hands shaking.

"Something has changed between us" said Harry, his eyes never leaving hers.. they were an interesting colour, brown but with a hint of gold, very Gryffindor and very beautiful. For a moment he didn't speak, lost almost in her eyes (no matter how corny his own thoughts sounded), before he forced himself back, he had something to do. "I'm not sure what it is, or how it happened but it has" he noticed he was sounding very brusque, and so he when he spoke next he dropped his voice, hoping to sound a little softer, and less like a General telling the troops they were heading to war.

"I want to find out what that is, and I think you do to" he smiled as he spoke the words, hoping above hope, that he was right. "Will you go to the ball with me?"

For a moment there was only silence, a charged silence, in which again Harry found himself looking into her eyes, her beautiful eyes, hoping and praying that she would say yes. He felt extremely nervous, and he knew that his hands were gripping hers rather tightly, lest they shake. The silence went on for about a minute before Harry considered saying something more..

Before he could however he felt a thud against him, and was suddenly engulfed by Hermione. Her arms were around his neck and she was hugging him tightly, her feet almost lifted off the ground with the force. Not quite knowing what that meant Harry wrapped his own arms around her back, holding her closely and tightly, as she spoke into his ear;

"Yes, yes, yes" her voice was barely a whisper and yet it was confirmation, and at that Harry's nerves disappeared, replaced by a feeling of inexplicable happiness, one he was sure would help him cast his best, strongest patronus. His grin was ear to ear as he squeezed her tighter, truly lifting her off the floor, he swayed back and forth for a moment and heard her giggles as she clutched to him.

She had said yes.

* * *

so thoughts? again harry/hermione POV will always be the main ones, thats not gunna change up too much.

I do hope you enjoyed & review and tell me what you thought! also fav/follow.

EDITED: 21/01/2018, syntax/grammar/phrasing fixed, minor changes.


	7. seven

authorsnote: here it is! I am so sorry for making everyone wait literally a year, I couldn't quite believe how long I'd gone without updating! All I can say is I have been extremely busy and lost a lot of muse for both this fanfic and the HP verse. Thankfully it seems to have come back, and not only have I finished this update but have already started on another!

I am sorry for keeping all of you waiting, I know how frustrating it can be waiting for the next chapter of a story, and I can only pledge to do better. this chapter is shorter as well as I was eager to get it up, I just hope you enjoy it and I understand I am recommitted to this story. I spent a few days editing all of the past chapters very briefly on grammar/syntax/some content, and am committed to taking this story forward. I have new ideas for it, new twists and an idea for some new side pairings! so thank you for sticking with me, it is greatly appreciated. I also do hope you enjoy this chapter, please review/follow/fav if you did!

song recommendations: here comes the sun: the beatles

* * *

little darling,

its been a long cold lonely winter

little darling,

it feels like years since its been here

here comes the sun

...

Of course, she had said yes!

She had been so unsure he would ask her, so scared when he hadn't pulled her aside after each lesson, so worried she'd read it all wrong and he wasn't interested. And yet, he had asked her! All her worrying had been for nought.

A permanent smile seemed to be attached to her lips, her cheeks blossomed red as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. She'd clung to him for what felt like hours after she had said yes, and he'd held her just as close. It was only when they'd heard a cough and turned to see Professor McGonogall giving them a knowing look before sweeping away did they break the hold, shoot each other a bashful glance before making their way down the corridor, back to the common room.

God, she felt so happy! Over the past week's things had really changed between them, morphing from a friendship to something much more significant. Hermione had been so scared she was the only one to feel it…and yet clearly that wasn't the case, clearly Harry had to feel the same too!

Again, she ran over his speech in her mind, 'Something has changed between us', 'I want to find out what it is'. The words had been music to her ears and she resisted the urge to throw herself at him again.

Unfortunately, now they had other things to consider.

They had agreed as they had fallen into step with one another that they would keep their newfound … relationship quiet until the Yule Ball. That way they'd avoid gossip up until then. Hermione was content with that and had even been the one to suggest it, Harry readily agreeing it was likely the best cause of action. Also, they needed time to discover what they were … boyfriend and girlfriend? Hermione hoped so, but they needed time to figure these things out.

Of course, then there was the issue of Ron. Her smile dimmed a little then as they continued forward, not holding hands but walking closer together than they normally would have. They hadn't spoken since she'd said yes, other than to say they'd keep things quiet. Hermione glanced at Harry then and saw he too was deep in thought, and likely about the same problem.

Ron.

The friendship with Ron was rebuilding. Hermione doubted it would ever be the same, but it was getting better. He had apologised to Harry and her separately once again, and she had appreciated him admitting how wrong he had been, and how he should never have shunned her for choosing Harry's side – she realised he had said something similar to Harry. The friendship was doing better, and Hermione was happy to have Ron back as a friend. Sure, she'd never see him as anything more than a friend, and she highly doubted they would have become friends without Harry in the mix, but they were friends now. In truth Hermione didn't want to lose that, but she knew this newfound relationship with Harry would put things at risk.

It wasn't that she suspected Ron fancied her, god no! It was rather he'd likely feel left out and pushed aside. They still weren't quite the trio they had been, but Hermione knew Ron was hoping for things to revert back to the way they had been. Hermione didn't think that could ever happen, and she doubted Harry did either, but Hermione knew any romantic relationship she had with Harry would be seen as the final nail in the coffin on their three way friendship to Ron.

They had to be careful in how they broke the news, Hermione knew that much at least.

"Do you think…" She began but paused as Cedric and a group of friends swept past. Hermione shot him a glare (she felt he should have talked to his friends about ditching those awful badges), but she saw Harry nod at him respectfully.

"Do I think we should tell Ron?" He continued for her as they left the earshot of the Hufflepuffs, and she looked at him a little aghast before he shot her a lazy smile, "It's not hard to know what we're both considering"

"Well…what do you think?" She asked gently, stepping a little closer, even going so far as to wrap her arm around Harry's – they were close to the Gryffindor portrait after all, no one was around.

"I think we wait until the Yule Ball" He said honestly, "I know it's the more dramatic way to do things, but it just means dealing with the fallout, and a way to announce it to everyone. Seems easier than pre-warnings and arguments" He said with a nod, and she agreed; sure dropping the bomb they were more than friends at the Ball was quite something, but it would mean no potential fallout before the Ball, and neither of them wanted the Yule celebration ruined.

"It's only two days as well" Harry said, turning to her as they stopped in front of the portrait. She found herself smiling up at him as they stopped, smiling happily again, and his smile mirrored hers. "Then it will be out in the open"

"What will be out in the open?" She couldn't help but ask … she realised with some insecurities it was a little early to be asking the fabled 'What are we?' question, and yet it had slipped out.

"We'll have to figure that out" Harry said confidently, but she saw a flash of nerves in those green eyes, "All I know is, we're definitely not just friends anymore" He said, grinning again then, all nerves disappeared as he turned to the portrait and gave the password, the Fat Lady swinging open to reveal the common room.

Hermione was still grinning as she stepped inside, and she knew Harry was smiling too.

No, they certainly weren't _just_ friends anymore.

* * *

Harry was in truth over the moon. Sure, he'd suspected things had changed between him and Hermione, and he'd suspected she had the same feelings for him as he did for her. But it was one thing to hope and suspect and another to have them confirmed. He was grinning from ear to ear, even as they entered the common room.

Sure, there were complications; the school finding out, the Slytherin's no doubt stepping up their abuse campaign, Ron … but Harry would take them all in stride. He was feeling a little more confident after completing the first task, and he knew what he wanted. He wanted Hermione, and though he wasn't sure how things would happen between them (would she be his girlfriend? Merlin that was both a strange and welcome thought), he knew he wanted them too. There would be obstacles but hadn't he been facing obstacles ever since he had found out he was a wizard? They would face them.

He was sure of it.

Of course, he wasn't looking forward to Ron seeing them entered the ball together and they'd somehow need to come up with dates as excuses…still, they could lie, it was only two days away, and Harry really didn't want to get into any arguments. No, they'd keep it quiet and let the fallout happen after the Ball – that was the plan.

He turned to Hermione again then, ready to ask if she wanted to drop off her stuff and head down to dinner with him, but immediately his attention was grabbed by someone yelling his name. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and turned to see Ginny kneeling in front of Ron by the fireplace, the two surrounded by a few members of Gryffindor. He raised an eyebrow and hurried over, Hermione following as Ginny moved to make room for them.

"Is everything alright?" He asked, his voice full of concern. Sure, he may still think Ron was a bit of a prat, and there was distance between them that hadn't been present before, but he was genuinely happy to have his best friend back. Perhaps they wouldn't regain their old closeness (he imagined especially not after things between him and Hermione became public knowledge), but it was nice to have him back, hence his concern.

"He just asked Fleur Delacour out" Ginny said, her own tone filled with disbelief, though she was blushing, and giving him her usual starry eyed glance. Honestly, Harry as nice a person as he was had become accustomed to ignoring the fact the youngest Weasley seemed to still be crushing on him, it was easier than confronting it.

And he was suitably distracted as he took in Ginny's words. His eyes widened and he heard Hermione gasp before she spoke, "He did what?!"

"What did she say?" Harry asked quickly, his eyes still wide as he finally looked at Ron, who looked just like he had when his own wand had backfired and he'd spent hours vomiting up slugs, if somehow worse. He looked horrified with himself and Harry could hardly blame him.

"No of course" Hermione piped up then, evidently not meaning to sound so judgemental. But then Ron shook his head, and Hermione didn't even try to school her tone as she gasped again, "She said yes?!"

"Of course not" Ron said, speaking for the first time, his voice filled with regret. "I don't even know how it happened! I was just … just walking to the Great Hall and she was outside! She looked so beautiful, and she tossed her hair over her shoulder … you know I like her hair"

Harry nodded then, sure he'd known Ron had a crush on the French Champion, but no idea it extended to the confidence of asking her out!

"I just blurted it out!" Ron said, shaking his head again, his expression one of horror and dismay, "She didn't even say anything, looked at me with disgust, like I was a slug or something"

"What did you do?" Harry asked.

"I ran for it!" Ron responded looking at Harry still in horror, "What else could I do?!" He said shaking his head, before he placed his head in his hands, "Oh god"

"Don't worry" Harry said then, and Hermione nodded, "She's part Veela, I forgot to tell you, you likely were just enthralled"

Ron looked somewhat comforted by this news, but only just as he finally looked back up at Harry, "Did you get a date at least?"

And there it came. Harry resisted a very real urge to look at Hermione, and instead just found himself nodding. What the hell was he meant to say? Both a happier looking Ron and an annoyed looking Ginny, plus several people surrounding them were waiting for an answer. He gulped … god, he had nerves of steel on the Quidditch Pitch and even battling a dragon! But now?! Having to lie, god it felt like his insides were squirming, regardless as to what the hat had said, Harry felt he would never make a good Slytherin on that basis alone.

"A girl from Beauxbatons" He said with a nod, "Blonde, pretty, I asked someone else originally…" He said, before realising he was going off on a tangent, "She said no, and I ran into one of the French girls alone, hadn't met her before but she seemed nice, I just asked her, she said yes, so yeah" He said, hoping it was suitable. It seemed so as Ron nodded, and clapped him on the shoulder in congratulations. Ginny didn't look too happy as he sneaked a glance at Hermione, who looked both annoyed but also understanding and happy… girls were weird at times.

"What about you Hermione?" Ron asked then, seemingly genuinely concerned about his friends dating prospects. Ron could be a very good friend at times, a lot of the time actually, Harry had to remember that. "Did you find a date? I know you said you wouldn't go with us, but do you have one? If not we could go together? You know, as friends?"

Oh Christ. Harry had to avoid both Hermione and Ron's gaze then. He felt his cheeks turning red, and he hurriedly coughed to avoid saying anything. Now was not the time to get jealous or laugh … both of which he had an urge to do. Nope, he needed to keep neutral and as he finished coughing he looked up at Hermione, who thankfully seemed to remain composed.

"I'm sorry Ron, a…one of the boys from Durmstrang asked me" She said with a nod, evidently jumping on Harry's 'person from another school so you wouldn't know them' tactic, "He said he'd seen me in the library studying and wanted to take me… so" She nodded then, and Ron did too; evidently a little deflated she'd turned him down, his ears turning pink a sure sign.

"Okay" He said with a nod, "Just me then" He said, biting down on his lip, "Any ideas?"

Harry too was biting his lip. He knew Ron was more upset at Hermione rejecting him than he let on – Harry knew deep down Ron had an interest in Hermione in a romantic fashion and just hadn't quite figured it out for himself. Well, regardless, Harry had that interest, knew of that interest and acted on that interest. Ron could moon over Hermione all he wanted, she was Harry's girlfriend! Or at least … she would be, Harry thought to himself, at least he hoped she would be.

Yes, she would be his girlfriend, he would ask her, soon, they were still figuring things out. Either way, Harry was not going to let Ron interfere with things between them, no chance.

"What about Lavender?" Hermione asked with a smile, as she noticed said girl walk into the common room, hanging onto Pavarti's arm. She shot Harry a look of reassurance and he smiled; not that he needed it, but it was still nice to have.

"Yeah" Ron said, evidently grasping at any straw, since Harry wasn't sure he'd ever seen Ron actually speak to Lavender.

Still, without warning he was out of his seat, strode forwards and stopped just shy of basically running into Lavender before he spoke in a clear voice, "Lavender, will you go to the ball with me?" He asked confidently, though Harry could see his hands shaking.

For a moment she just giggled and Harry felt a sense of dread, before she nodded, "Alright then" She said happily, before hurrying off with Pavarti, who was grinning – he'd heard Pavarti was attending with Seamus, so things seemed to have worked out for the two of them.

Ron too seemed happier as he turned back to them, though Harry could see the glint of hurt in his eyes as he glanced at Hermione. Well that made things awkward.

Oh god, Harry thought … if Hermione turning down an offer to go to the ball with Ron as friends made things awkward … he couldn't imagine how bad things would be with Ron, when the redhead realised who Hermione had really turned him down for.

* * *

so what did you think? I do apologise for it being so short & not including the actual ball, I just wanted to get this up as soon as possible! the next chapter will be the ball, the entire chapter, and it should be a long one!  
I also have some ideas for side pairings, for ron and ginny. I'm not set on them yet, not at all, but I do have some ideas. I would however love to know your thoughts, let me know in reviews who'd you'd like to see the two youngest weasleys paired off with!

I also have ideas for two more HP fics in the works! one is a harry raised by the blacks situation, the second is a draco/hermione future based/marriage law fic. please let me know if you'd have interest in seeing either of these! I do ship harry/hermione a great deal, but also draco/hermione and harry/daphne as well, hence me wanting to do a fic with both sets of pairings as well! please let me know what you think in reviews, I always value your input!

as always thanks for reading, and please review/fav/follow! I promise not to wait a year to update again ... just six months! okay bad joke, ignore me, I hope to update asap in fact, and have another potential HP fic off the ground very soon. so, again big thanks for sticking with me, and see you soon.


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